


Getting to Know You

by JMoonrise



Category: Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Light Angst, Meet-Cute, Photography, Secret Identity, Super adorkable, lots of flirty banter, pure fluff, some smut eventually, texting between strangers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:48:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24571828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMoonrise/pseuds/JMoonrise
Summary: Jamie accidentally texts the wrong number, leading to a series of unexpected flirtations with a mysterious woman who loves to get under his skin.
Relationships: Claire Beauchamp & Jamie Fraser, Claire Beauchamp/Jamie Fraser
Comments: 350
Kudos: 428





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Darkcloudsandpurpleraindrops](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkcloudsandpurpleraindrops/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... we won't talk about how I started another fic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think?  
> This format is only for the first couple or so chapters and a few chapters in-between. There’ll eventually be text and dialogue. But this story is going to be pretty light on angst for the most part, which from me is probably shocking as hell.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for that incredibly enthusiastic response to the first chapter. I know some of you don't believe me, but this really will be very light on angst. I've got enough of that with my other stories.

There's a rap on the door and she sighs. She knew her time was limited from the start. She wishes she could extend her time with him, but realistically her life isn't much her own at the moment. There are people she has to report to and she can't spend all of her time on her phone, texting a stranger who she feels more connected to than anyone else in her life. 

"Yes?" She calls out. She knows what the response will be, but she does it anyway.

"Five minutes CB and then you're needed."

She tucks away her phone. It isn't allowed where she's going. She glances at her appearance in the mirror, tidies her hair a bit, and plasters on her most charming smile, the one she mastered years ago. "I'll be there." 

She has to make a stop beforehand, but otherwise she's ready. She slips her feet into her shoes and rolls out her coiled muscles before opening the door to her trailer. The air is moist and what she's come to expect during the last few weeks. It's warm though and not muggy, which is what she'll arrive home to in a few weeks. She grins at one of her coworkers as she passes by and mentally prepares herself for another long day and night. She does love her job, but it doesn’t leave her a lot of time to just be herself, nor does she have privacy, only the illusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Signing off from my front porch until next time guys!!  
> Also almost all of the photos are mine except the northern lights (which I totally want to see) and Bhutan (where I totally want to visit). It won't always be conversation between texts and insta. I promise. We will eventually upgrade to *drum roll* phone calls *cackles maniacally* Who am I right now? Lol I'll attribute it to the nice weather and the fact that I don't have to finish mowing the lawn because it rained last night. The rain gods blessed me for the third week in a row.  
> Also that’s totally my real phone dying lol


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is so easy and fun to write. I really love all the flirty banter. There's lot of it this chapter. And I'm totally invoking the 5th amendment for any and all questions related to the plot and her career lol

CB stumbles through the darkness of her room, not bothering to turn on the lights to guide her. She is exhausted and barely has the energy to make the trek from the door to her bed. Work had gone over by several hours and it had started as an early day. Things hadn't gone to plan and there are a few new added delays. She isn't exactly looking forward to returning because of some of her difficult coworkers. They're making everything a nightmare.

Her body falls haphazardly onto the mattress and she lays there, unmoving. She doesn’t kick off her shoes, remove any of her layers of clothing, or bother with any semblance of a night routine. She is bone tired and welcomes the bliss sleep brings. The silence is punctuated by loud snores as she drifts off, her dreams filled with a red headed man who enjoys getting under skin.

All too soon, a new day arrives. Late morning light streams into her room, hitting her in the face, forcing her to wake up. She groans and turns into her pillow, wishing fruitlessly for sleep to come and take her away. A minute later her phone dings with a notification, followed quickly by her alarm. “Another new day,” she grumps unhappily. She reaches into her back pocket in search of the loathsome device that has interrupted her attempts to fall back into a content slumber. She shuts off her alarm, ignoring the snooze option she has become fond of as there is no chance of her returning to an unconscious state.

She brings the phone to her face, squinting as the sun hits her directly in the face, nearly blinding her. She regrets not closing the curtains. She isn’t quite fully awake, sleep not quite having cleared from her eyes. A smile tugs at her lips when she sees she has a message from her new ‘friend’. Sitting up suddenly, wincing slightly at the quick motion, CB isn’t as grumpy as she was two minutes ago.

She eagerly texts him back.

She finds herself laughing raucously at his quick comebacks and snappy quips. It has been ages since she had a formidable opponent. He gives as good as he gets and she likes that about him. She may not know him by conventional means, but it doesn’t mean what they’re sharing is the equivalent of nothing. She meant what she told him. He is something real in her topsy turvy world. She rarely gets to feel like herself, and it is nice having someone who knows her, the her not everyone sees. Most people see what they want to and make assumptions from that. It's been a long time since anyone new came into her life without feeling entitled. She plans to eventually tell him everything, but she wants to hold off for a little longer on that truth bomb. She likes anonymity of it all and how he doesn't push. He backs off when he senses she's uncomfortable with the line of conversation and doesn't question it either. He's a breath of fresh air.

Her personal life is a mess and has taken far too many hits over the years. All of her dedication and energy has been funneled into her career, leaving little time for anything else. This is the first time in… well she doesn’t really know where has something purely for her. She doesn't want anything to ruin it. She hasn't had many good things outside of her career. She was beginning to think she didn't deserve it and that was the way it was going to be. If her career flourished, at least she had something. She couldn't have it all in aspects of her life. Sure, it doesn't quite hold the same bragging rights, but she is successful and she loves what she does. That's not something everyone can say. She is proud of it. She just can't stop herself from wanting more and feels guilty every time those thoughts invade her mind. She can't ask for too much. That's just being greedy. It was easy to ignore in the beginning because she had distractions and the newness of her world at least as she transitioned into an adult, but it's becoming glaringly obvious how empty her life is. Her friends from school are getting married, starting families, and she's not. It isn't even that she's necessarily ready for all of that currently given her lack of a significant other or any serious relationships in the last five years, however it would be nice to make some progress in that part of her life.

CB groans when she catches sight of the time. Part of her wants to continue texting him, playfully bantering with him, and educating him on his poor taste in everything. She shakes her head with a teasing smile adorning her lips. She feels light and unburdened and it can all be attributed to his presence in her life. He makes the long work days worth it just so she can look forward to talking to him again.

It was some strange twist of fate that caused him to text her number instead of his manager’s, but she doesn’t mind. The interruption to the monotony of her days was very much welcome and now she can’t go back. She longs for these stolen moments where she can just be. It feels selfish and dishonest sometimes that he doesn't have the full truth. She's in too deep now and doesn't know how to broach the topic. She hopes he eventually guesses, so she can tell him all then. If not, she has to figure out how to explain it all. She hasn't had to do that ever, and especially with someone who she likes.

She sends him one last cheeky remark before setting her phone aside and heading to the shower. She has to get ready for the day and can’t spend time working. She thanks god it is Friday and tomorrow she has a day off. It is a blessing. This has been one of the longest weeks since she arrived in Hawaii three weeks before.

She stifles a yawn as she twists the taps for the ideal shower temperature. She pulls out her scrunchy, shaking out her wavy locks, watching as they tumble down her shoulders. The best part about Hawaii is that she finally has some color to her perpetually pale skin. It was getting frightening how freakishly pale she was and this job couldn’t have come at a better time. She looked as if she hadn’t spent time outside in literal years.

The mirrors starts to fog up, alerting her to the readiness of the water. She steps inside the space, sighing as the water hits her sore muscles. A moan slips out as the stream hits her back just right. She quickly washes up, taking time to lather her hair with a healthy amount of shampoo. The scent of sweat and the great outdoors dissipates under the strong aroma of her strawberry scented shampoo. She allows the conditioner to sit for a few minutes and takes a moment to gather her mental faculties and plan for the weekend.

She thinks of visiting the North Shore tomorrow, maybe paying for a surfing lesson. She has always wanted to learn and she can’t think of when she’ll have another opportunity in the near future. She mentally adds a reminder to her internal list to text her assistant about arranging something. Perhaps she can ask her to look into restaurants. She hasn't eaten anything aside from takeout in a week and would love to eat something besides Chinese food or pizza, or something that can be consumed quickly. She misses having time to properly sit down to eat a meal. Everything has been such a whirlwind since she's arrived and she needs a breather. She gets a single day off each week as they've got a deadline and they're seriously pushing it. They're behind schedule and unless something changes, they're going to go past it, which means no days off at all.

After her shower, she forgoes any make-up, ignores her skincare routine, and throws her hair up in a quick ponytail. She dries it enough, so that it isn’t dripping down her back, soaking her shirt, but otherwise leaves it alone. She throws on a tank and jean shorts, not caring in the slightest how she looks.

The phone in her room rings and she rushes out of the bathroom to answer. “Hello?” She answers, slightly out of breath.

“Hello Miss Beauchamp, I’m calling to inform you your car has arrived.”

“Thank you. I’ll be right down.” She places the phone back on the receiver and rushes around her room to gather her belongings.

Luckily, she dropped her bag by the door when she returned last night and hadn’t had a chance to remove anything. She slips her feet into her sandals, snatches her phone off the bed, grabs her bag, and heads out the door.

She takes the stairs instead of the elevator, too impatient to wait for it to arrive. The car is waiting just outside. Her driver exits the car sweat pooling at his brow and moves quickly around to the side to open the door for her. She beams gratefully at him as she slides in, buckling her seatbelt, and sinking into the surprisingly, comfy leather seats. She decompresses as they make their way. This is one of the few times of day where has time to just exist without reality pressing in on her from all sides. Her muscles relax, all the tightness from yesterday leaving, and she starts listing positive affirmations for the day. It helps her to focus and to leave any negativity from the previous day in the past. She doesn't want yesterday to cloud today.

She shoots off a text to Jamie, asking if he is available to chat during her allotted slot for lunch. He confirms he is in fact free then as his flight isn’t until nine east coast time. She thinks she hadn’t asked him where he was in the world and shrugs it off. His posts are usually delayed to prevent anyone from finding him as his fanbase grows. He did just ask her about her own location, so she doesn't feel too guilty about it.

Everyone who knows her is already quite aware of her location. She closes her eyes as they pull onto the highway. A few more hours and she can finally hear his voice, talk to him. There’s something distinctly intimate about this situation she’s found herself in, and she doesn’t care at all. It’s invigorating. At twenty-seven, CB hasn't had much of a chance to just exist and to live her life, not until one wrong number made her realize there is more to live than constantly working and burying all of her long withheld emotions. 

She feels the implications of texting with a virtual stranger and revealing that she isn't exactly who she has made herself out to be. She has answered all of his questions about her truthfully, but there were pertinent details absent. There is a reason she hasn't officially given her name to him, not that he would necessarily put all of the pieces together with that particular revelation. A notification from Instagram pops up on her phone. She slides her thumb and waits for her phone to scan her face. The app opens automatically and she groans when she sees her assistant has posted a photo. She giggles when she sees one of her friend's comments and quickly replies. 

While Clara Beth sometimes feels her choices are limited, she wouldn't change her life. She likes where it has gone, but she is ready to make a few changes and invite some new people into her private world. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure it's becoming more obvious what her job is. I still won't confirm nor deny your assumptions.  
> So what did you think?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, to preface this chapter, the entire thing takes place over a period of a few days. So I don't want you to get confused. Please, do ignore the clock though. Also I really just love GIFs, so that's why you see them littered throughout their texts.

Their mini debates have become the best part of his day. He is in disbelief over her latest preference. How could she seriously prefer pancakes over waffles? Waffles were obviously superior and were way less boring to look at. Pancakes were flat whereas waffles had texture and dimension, and he could put whip cream on top. He finds pancakes are bland unlike the sweet goodness of his beloved waffles. He shakes his head at her poor dietary choices. He is trying to distract himself and failing miserably as he has been for the last few hours when they decided today they were finally going to talk. It is near six, almost time. 

Jamie taps his fingers nervously on his thigh. The tv is on in the background, but he couldn’t say what was playing. He is anxious. Any minute now, she is going to call. He is going to hear her voice and he can’t stop the anxiety from creeping up his spine.

It feels life changing, which is odd to say about some he hasn’t met in person and has seen exactly one photo of with her face covered by giant sunglasses. He decided when they first began their thing, he wouldn’t push her to reveal anything she wasn’t comfortable sharing with him. He sensed her hesitancy and gathered from what she did share, she had a difficult time trusting people in her life.

It genuinely made him curious to delve deeper into her life, to discover what she did as a career, her favorite foods, etc. She challenged him and made him laugh. He enjoys her sense of humor and her gentle teasing. While he does have his family and a few close friends, he considers himself about as lonely as she does.

He loves his career, but it doesn’t always leave him time to form meaningful attachments. Previous girlfriends grew annoyed with him when he didn’t devote the time they demanded to their relationship and put much of his focus into his burgeoning career. Part of him wonders if he would have a wife by now if he had set aside the time and put effort into those relationships.

His sister, Jenny told him not to worry. He would find someone in the future who didn’t mind the demands of his profession and wouldn’t make him choose between a relationship and his career.

He had his doubts when she voiced it to him. It wasn’t that he thought she was intentionally lying to him or offering false hope, but he didn’t know many women who would be satisfied with a somewhat absentee boyfriend. He had constraints from deadlines with insistent, pushy editors to his location in the world. He didn’t always have the chance to choose his next destination. While he spent a lot of time in London, he spent just as much in New York City, mingling and making connections with powerful people in the industry.

He had the luxury of meeting a gallery owner, interested in displaying his work. He is still rubbing his head on how that happened. While he went to great lengths to put his best foot forward and devoted time to getting the perfect shot, angle, lighting, and subject, he often finds himself living these surreal moments.

His instagram started to grow as people took notice of him. He has to shake his head some times to convince himself it is real and happening to him. He is from a small village in Scotland and while people had gone on to later become successful in their chosen fields, there isn’t anyone classified as ‘famous’ from his hometown. He is their pride and he takes the responsibility seriously.

Some of the women back home have taken notice of him whereas in their youth they ignored him. He was gawky, awkward, his stomach usually tied in knots at the prospect of conversing with a girl, and when he did find himself in conversation, his tongue got all twisted in his mouth. He was a stuttering fool, constantly embarrassing himself. He hid behind the lens of his camera, letting the pictures say what he couldn’t.

It was incidentally how he got his first girlfriend. He had taken a picture of a girl he hopelessly crushed on and his art teacher encouraged him to enter it in a local competition. The girl blushed when she finally saw it and asked if he wanted to go out some time on a date with her. He stumbled over his words, but somehow managed to answer.

They inevitably broke up when they went off to uni, but it was with the understanding that they were better off as friends. She occasionally texted him to offer praise about his work. He had gifted her that prize winning photo of her a few Christmases back.

He other hand trails through his messy locks. He idly thinks he should get a haircut when he heads to London after the shoot. His hair is getting a bit of control and he isn’t really the man bun wearing type.

“Christ,” he murmurs on his second run through his wild curls. He hadn’t consider how truly nervous he was about the upcoming call. He isn’t usually the type to get hung up over a woman or find himself apprehensive. He is on edge and the constant ticking away of minutes isn’t helping ease any of his worries. She said she would call and every time he glances at the black screen, he can’t help but agonize over the idea that maybe she had a change of heart. Perhaps a phone call between them is pushing things and moving them quickly into something else.

Jamie jumps when his phone starts ringing, eyes darting quickly to the screen. He inhales and shakily exhales as he reaches over with trembling hands to pick up the device. His finger slides across and he lifts the phone to his head. “Hello?”

“Hi,” she breathes softly. Her voice is lovely in a low timber with an almost melodic quality. It’s faintly British, but he remembers she doesn’t live there any longer. She has been surrounded by Americans for some time. “How are you?”

How is he? He is sweating profusely, soaking the underarms and back of his t-shirt, which he’ll have to change before heading to the airport in a bit. “I’m good,” he replies.

“Good, that’s- yeah good.” She laughs nervously. Relief floods his system as he realizes she is as anxious about the call as he is. Maybe she understands that this isn’t an accident of fate. They are intentionally engaging in something beyond mere strangers. “Gosh,” she mumbles. “That sounded awfully stupid. I’m usually a lot more loquacious.” He snickers at the word. He knows she is teasing him after the whole debacle about his ability to read a book.

“Sure,” he says, dragging out the syllables. “Maybe that is what ye want me to think, so that I don’t question your ability to read or hold meaningful conversation.”

She scoffs. “Excuse me sir! I most assuredly am proficient at reading and well learned.”

He chuckles, having expected the sharp retort. “Yes, exactly what you would say in defense of a direct challenge to your capabilities.” He is enjoying the teasing game they’ve started through their texts. She is easily riled and he loves it. “But what someone says can just as easily be a lie.”

“My parents are professors. Trust me, it was disappointing for them when they realized I wasn’t going to follow in their footsteps. I excelled in school, but it wasn’t where my interests lay and they knew it.”

Jamie swallows the lump in his throat. He knows something about disappointing parents too. “My dad wasn’t particularly pleased when I revealed I planned to be a photographer. He couldn’t believe I would choose an uncertain profession over running our farm. He didn’t talk to me for a while when I told him I was going to take over.”

He can practically feel her sympathy and empathy from the nearly 8000 kilometers between their locations. “It sucks when you know that what you love doing doesn’t exactly live up to your parents’ wishes for your life. Mine got over it eventually, but they thought it would be a hobby. I’ve never waned in my desire to do it though and they eventually accepted that.”

“My dad came round when I had my first big showing. He attending the showing at the gallery in London, which my dad doesn’t travel much. He did for me. It was special. He’s gone to a few others over the years and buys all the magazines. He joined insta after some help from my sister setting up and learning the ropes.”

She giggles and it is the most beautiful sound in the world. It’s like chiming bells and sounds almost otherworld in its’ richness. “That’s so adorable. My parents are extremely supportive now. They do everything they can almost to the point that it’s mortifying.”

“They love ye. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“No,” her voice lowers. “There isn’t. I was hesitant to inform them how serious I was in the beginning and they did react poorly initially, inquiring about my plans to continue my schooling, but they saw how miserable sitting in a classroom made me.”

“So can I get anymore hints?”

“No!” She cackles. “I’m wise to your wily ways. You think you’re clever and tried to weasel the answer out of me by casually slipping in your question.”

“Nothing gets past you.”

Nope. I am excellent at reading people and their intentions.”

He has the impression that is once again in relation to her job. His insides stir warning him away from broaching the uncomfortable topic with her. He deftly changes the subject. “Okay so back to this superhero thing, if Captain American is yer favorite for Marvel who is yer favorite DC hero?”

He’ll think years from then that he should’ve expected her answer, after all she had shown an affinity to patriotic, boy scout type characters when she told him she preferred Captain America. “Superman, duh! I mean aside from the fact that they get some seriously handsome to play him. He’s tall, dark, and handsome and has that awkward thing going on that quickly transitions into confidence when he’s his alter ego. And the best part about it is that at the end of the day, he’s just Clark Kent.”

“I’ll assume you ship Clark and Lois.”

“Oh definitely!” She gushes, like actually gushes to him. He had no idea he signed up for girl talk when he agreed to this, but he is loathe to end it now. “She doesn’t try to change or control him. She accepts him for himself. Also it is comical how each series whether television in the animated or live action forms, movies, and comics handle her discovering he is in fact Superman.” He seriously had no clue what to expect when he posed the question. He didn’t think she could talk so much, but then again this is their first time holding a real conversation where they don’t have time to carefully compose their words. He likes how dorky she is and that she doesn’t mind revealing this side of her herself to him. “One of the funniest is from [The Adventures of Lois and Clark](https://youtu.be/SoTgskfvw2I) or there’s this one scene in one of the animated versions where he tells her in such a sarcastic way after she confronts him about how he manages to steal these stories from her, and she tells him, [he’s sick](https://youtu.be/pfAvN6rXdkM). In her defense, Clark has the ability to shift his appearance I guess is the best description so people never look beyond what’s there to figure out he is in fact Superman. It just isn’t easy to translate that to the screen.”

His grins widens as he realizes that she really is a nerd. He thought it was just the theater, but now he knows it extends beyond that. He snickers, covering his mouth to hide his laughter. She is too adorable for words.

“Ye’re a geek!” He exclaims jovially, unable to contain it any longer. Here she is teasing him for his literary and cinematic choices when she reads comic books and watches comic book related shows and movies. “How did I not see this coming?” He slaps his thigh, guffawing loudly. He is rewarded with a frustrated growl on her end, which sounds cute more than threatening. “Who did ye dress up as for Halloween?” Her silence is telling and he knows he is on the right path. “Supergirl?” More silence, which he will take as a yes. “Wonder Woman?” Again, she says nothing.

He will definitely be looking at pictures of these costumes in the future, if only to have material to tease her forever. “Black Canary?” So she really has run the gamut in terms of characters as she continues her bout of silence. “Poison Ivy?”

She scoffs. “No but primarily because I looked terrible in the red wig.” He hears her swear on the other end. She hadn’t meant to reveal that to him.

“You’ve confirmed you dressed as the others. Kitty Pryde? Zatanna? Bat Girl? Catwoman?

“Raven when I was a moody adolescent. My parents put their foot down when I showed them Zatanna. I wanted to go as Harley Quinn, but mum wasn’t having it. I did go as Captain Marvel when I was nine. I went as Psylocke when I was fourteen. I didn’t tell my parents since she is sort of a murky character.”

“So I’m guessing not Mera?”

“No,” she answers. “Like I said I don’t pull off being a red head well, which there are a surprising amount of red headed female superheroes.”

“Did you go as Lois Lane?” She doesn’t answer. “Ye did!” He should’ve known when she started babbling about Clark and Lois. “Ye were probably so adorable. Have ye gone to ComicCon?” He can picture her cosplaying as some of her favorites.

“Ooh would you look at the time? My break is almost over and I do need to eat.”

“Whatever ye say,” he laughs loudly. He doesn’t believe for a minute that’s the entire reason. “But I will let ye go. I’ve got to finish packing myself.”

“Have a safe flight. I’ll text you later.”

“Okay and try not to kill anyone at work.”

She grumbles unhappily. “I made a comment _once_.” She stresses to him. “I wasn’t serious.”

“Sure Jan.” He hangs up, still cackling wildly at what just transpired. He worried endlessly if the connection they found through their words on a scree would disappear when they talked, but he shouldn’t have. It was there. She was as dynamic and interesting as she was in her texts.

He wishes he could spend more time talking to her, but they both have jobs requiring their attention. He can’t drop months of careful planning, no matter how tempted he is.

He catches a whiff of himself and decides a shower is in order before he checks out. He is thankful to his assistant for upgrading him from business to first. His flight is the only time he’ll have to catch any sleep for the next few hours. Upon his arrival he has to head to over to the shooting location to make sure everything is in order, then he has a few meetings. There is a lot to be done before the actual shoot and he doesn’t have time to settle down in his hotel room.

With a longing look at his phone, he leaves it on the coffee table and heads to the bathroom. He can’t spend almost six hours on a plane smelling the way he currently does.

* * *

CB glances up when she spots her assistant hovering by the door. “Yes Kara?”

“Right, um I made the arrangements for you.” CB wonders if it is her work persona that causes a change in her assistant’s personality. When they are in a relaxed setting, they are friends, and there’s no excess nervous energy floating between them. However, as soon as the boss mask is donned, Kara does a complete 180 and there’s like a little switch. She no longer views her as a friend, someone she’s discussed her dating history with, but rather her employer and keeps those boundaries. “I put in a car reservation and made a list of local restaurants in the area like you asked. You’ve also got a surfing lesson around noon, so you don’t want to leave here too late.”

“What would I do without you?”

Kara’s evergreen eyes crinkle at the corners. “Starve for one,” and they share a laugh over how true her statement is. If it wasn’t for her assistant’s dutiful efforts to see her fed at least twice a day, CB would forget to eat anything. “So how’s it going Clara? Do you need me to do anything else?”

Clara sighs, throwing herself back onto the sofa. “Not unless you can somehow work your magic and speed up this day. I’m ready for the weekend and to have a day off. I swear this has been one of the longest days of my life.” She longs to snuggle up in her fuzzy pajama bottoms and ratty t-shirt in her bed, watching trashy tv. Instead people’s egos are involved and getting hurt over nothing, resulting in some petty disagreements. Her responsibilities are endless on her current project, and she regrets deciding to take on so much. She was enthusiastic at the start of this venture, everything not quite hitting her at the time.

Now reality has set in, slapping her across the face. It hurt like a bitch to realize things weren’t going according to plan.

“Sorry no can do, but I can run out and get you some coffee from that place you like.”

“Could you?” Clara Beth lifts her head to look at her assistant. “Bless you. You are a goddess amongst us all. When was the last time I gave you a raise?”

“Last month boss lady,” she giggles with a shake of her head. “Are you sure everything is okay?”

“Yeah,” she mumbles tiredly. She is reeling from her phone call with Jamie. Before she sort of made up in her head what he sounded like, not having much of a clue. The velvety lilt in his voice is intoxicating. She could listen to him speak for hours about anything and nothing. His voice was rich and smooth as silk. She can’t believe she allowed him to one up her. Now he’s going to ask for photographic evidence, she groans, flinging an arm over her face. “Ugh.”

Kara stifles a laugh at the dramatics of her boss. She has noticed a lightness in her recently, unsure of what to attribute it too until Clara handed her phone over a few days ago and she caught sight of a flurry of text messages between her boss and some guy named Jamie. She was tempted to snoop and find out more, but ultimately decided to respect her friend’s privacy. She would find a way later to hound her for it. “Come on, you’ve got somewhere to be.” She hovers over before tugging on her arm and pulling her off the sofa.

“Do I have to?” She pouts.

“Yes.”

“Fine.” She follows her assistant out into the bright light of today, squinting at the change in lighting. Had it been this bright when she took her lunch break an hour ago? “It burns.”

“You’re so dramatic, but what can I expect from a theater dork like you. I swear it’s nothing but over the top histrionics with you.”

“HEY! I’m your boss.”

“I can’t take you seriously. Let’s go, you were supposed to be ready by now, but it’s fine. You’re not the only one prolonging things and we aren’t that far behind schedule.”

“Great. How many more weeks of this?” She asks again, despite knowing the answer.

“Three after that storm messed up the first week.”

“And when this is done I don’t have anything on my schedule, right?”

“Nope,” Kara confirms. “You’re as free as a bird for the following three months.”

Clara sighs in relief at the confirmation her schedule is clear after this project. She loves to keep busy and flit from one project to the next, but her current one is taxing and taking every ounce of her patience. She is aware she’ll need a mental break after all the obstacles and mental gymnastics she has gone through to finish this one. “At least we are in paradise. I can’t imagine if we were in Canada or Norway again. It was so bloody cold.”

“You’re from England. What the hell? I highly doubt it gets any colder and you live in New York most of the time.”

“So?”

Kara shakes her head, shoving Clara over to a trailer. “Go!” Clara hears her mutter intelligibly under her breath and laughs. She adores her assistant and is thankful she found her. She doesn’t know how she would get anything done without the other woman by her side fulfilling a lot of different roles. She is irreplaceable and even though one day she won’t be her assistant, she knows they’ll at least be friends.

She enters the trailer, smiling as she takes her seat. She closes her eyes as they get to work.

Later, she'll text him about how much she enjoyed talking to him. It felt nice to be normal and to have someone who liked the things she did and felt comfortable making fun of her. Granted, she really hadn't meant for him to know all about her cosplaying and her addiction to comic books, but he had bested her this time around. She would be ready for the next time. 

She can't believe his obvious poor taste. Seriously? Who preferred the prequels over the original trilogy? Despite lacking in the most advanced special effects that could be found in the more recent ones, it was ahead of its' time and had the superior story telling. She supposes she is lucky that he does like them though because many of her friends weren't fans of the franchise. As they continued talking, it was amazing to discover all the things she had in common with a perfect stranger. Well, he wasn't really a stranger any longer. They technically new each other. He knew things about her almost no one else did. 

He likes _Scott Pilgrim_ and she really can't find better. Although the movie is super kitschy and campy all around, she loves it. It is one of those movies she repeatedly finds herself saying 'wtf' and doesn't mind how out there it is. If they ever have the opportunity to meet and spend time together, they will definitely have to watch the movie together. She wants to laugh with him and talk about how silly and entertaining it is. She can hardly believe how serendipitous all of this is. 

Somehow Jamie messed up the number and texted her number of all the New York numbers and they have managed to find all sorts of things in common. She will have to educate him on the deliciousness of pancakes, but she thinks she can let it slide especially after their latest round of texts. 

She knows it is fast. They haven't been talking that long but her feelings for him aren't superficial. Internally, she's squealing like a school girl over the entire situation. She isn't alone in her feelings. He loves her in return, despite not knowing who she really is and not even knowing what she looks like. He loves her for what she's revealed to him. She can hardly understand it, but she isn't going to complain or talk herself out of this. She has done that too many times in the past. She is ready for whatever happens next, despite how terrified she is. The possibility of Jamie scares her more than anything that has come before him, but she can't let him go now. She is in too deep. 

Her phone rings and within seconds she's answer. "Hi Jamie," she greets him happily, ready to discuss what will happen now that they've admitted there's more to this than simple friendship. She's going to tell him everything. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any questions aside from Claire's job (which should be a little more obvious now) please let me know. I can't believe it was 36 pictures. I hadn't realized I was typing that much.  
> Also Scott Pilgrim is a really campy film that my sister and I love. It's extremely bizarre and out there, but super funny, although maybe not for most. It is a cult type film. I also do love comic books and Star Wars and occasionally meditate. And I may or may not have because of this chapter made blueberry pancakes for lunch today.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh!!! I'm so excited for you guys to read this chapter. Some of you will discover you were in fact correct.

She could do this. The situation is unusual as most people generally knew her prior to any sort of progress into friendship territory, but the circumstances in which they had become acquainted weren’t normal by most standards or any at all. She has heard stories of people accidentally becoming friends because of texts sent to the wrong number, but it still isn’t all that normal of an occurrence.

One wrong digit in a stream of nine resulted in her phone number.

She sighs noisily, capturing his attention immediately. She didn’t want to prolong the inevitable. He had waited long enough for her to open up to him and talk more about herself. She shared the occasional childhood anecdote without revealing too much because her childhood strayed from the norm around the time she was eight and decided being a performer was everything she wanted out of life.

It was an accident really. She had a featured part in her children’s choir and next thing she knew she was invited to audition for some West End show. It took a lot of convincing on her parents’ part for them to consider allowing her to audition.

Clara was nothing if not theatrical and determined from a young age with her constant productions and her desire to be on the stage. She went out for all the lead roles in her class plays and always sought better parts in the annual nativity play. Performing brought her joy in a way nothing else in her life did.

“Are you okay?”

Belatedly, she snaps to attention, realizing he has been calling her name. “Yeah, I just have to tell you something. I’m not sure how you’ll react. If it’s with anger well that’s to be expected and I wouldn’t be opposed to you ending contact with me.”

“Now I’m worried.”

“So you’ve been wondering what it is that brings me to Hawaii and has me constantly traveling all over the world.”

“Yes, but if ye dinna feel comfortable sharing I won’t push you. That’s not my thing.”

Yes, she wants to keep Jamie Fraser in her life for as long as he’ll stay. The people she frequently associated with were always pushing, lusting for a space in her life, but she didn’t want to make room for people who didn’t care about the real her. “No, it’s fine.” She reassures him, mostly herself that she can do this. “Technically I was slightly dishonest about when I got my start. Officially it was eighteen as you can’t really have a career as a kid, but I started out when I was eight. You see I’m an actress. I started out in some West End productions before getting an agent and everything that goes along with that. I started booking television shows and eventually ended up in film, which brings me to where I am now.”

“Ye’re an actress? Would I ken ye?”

She bites her lip. She isn’t one to brag about her status or show off, preferring to keep to herself. She is an enigma in the industry, which creates more buzz and adds curiosity as people try to solve her. “Um perhaps.”

“What are some things ye’ve done?”

At least he isn’t discrediting her, or thinking her a liar. “I may have won the Oscar last year for lead actress if that helps.” She chews roughly on her bottom lip, waiting for his response that never seems to come. “Jamie?”

She hears something that sounds like strangling on the other end of the line.

“Are you okay?”

“Ye’re Clara Beth?”

She closes her eyes, so apparently he had heard of her. “Yes?”

“Why does that sound like a question?”

“Because my friends and family call me CB. Clara Beth is my name, so I do hear Clara but gosh when the Beth is tacked on, I feel as if I’m expected on the red carpet or something. It’s my stage name. My management team decided when I was ten that we should shorten my name to something memorable. They knew I went by Clara and my middle name is Elizabeth. Honestly, many forget or don’t know my name is Clarissa. Technically, CB stands for both my real name and my nickname as my last name is Beauchamp. It makes me feel a lot less pretentious at times and I usually make reservations under Clarissa Beauchamp when I want to go under the radar because who wants to be a celebrity all the time? The benefits really don’t outweigh the costs to my personal life. I like my privacy and I love my job.” She knows she is babbling uncontrollably, but he isn’t saying anything and she is worried he’ll hang up otherwise. “I always wanted to be an actress from the time I was like three or four. I would persuade my older cousins into putting on these mini shows with me and it all spiraled from the-“

“Clara?” He cuts off her rambling, she hears a teasing note in his voice, sighing in relief he isn’t angry with her for omitting specific details of her life. “You don’t have to justify yerself to me. While I have a modest following at best, ye’re certainly notable. I saw yer film ye won the award for and thought ye deserved it. At first I wasn’t sure what to think when you dropped all of that on me, but hearing ye go on reminded me of yer speech. Ye were so endearing and ye blushed a lot as ye stumbled over yer words.”

She wouldn’t forget any of that any time soon. The press and audience ate it up. She was notorious for babbling and getting off track. She hadn’t meant to do it in her speech, which she practiced for hours in her hotel mirror. Somehow when she was up there onstage with the Academy staring at her and the cameras pointed at her, she found her brain devoid. She improvised on the spot, which worked out well for her in the media. It was embarrassing though how flustered she became, especially as she had already won multiple awards prior to that for the very same role including back in her homeland at the BAFTAs.

“It was what convinced me ye’re definitely Clara Beth.”

“Oh,” she mumbles. That certainly hasn’t happened to her. “Well now you know.”

“So what are ye filming or is it top secret?”

“I can’t really divulge much, but I am not only starring in it, I’m directing. That’s actually been kept from the media. We’ve tried to keep a lot to ourselves. It’s my first time really directing something this huge.”

“Sounds like ye were made for it with bullying yer cousins when ye were younger.”

“Hey!! Come on! They were mostly happy to do it.” They did it grudgingly with a lot of grumbling, but it eventually got done.

“Isn’t directing a lot like ordering people around?”

She rolls her eyes at the simplification of her job. “No, there’s other components to consider. Sure, there is some bossing because you’ve got to tell people what you’re expecting from them. It’s why television shows can vary in tone from episode to episode. I suppose it’s similar to what you do as a photographer.”

He hums thoughtfully, possibly having not considered the overlap in their jobs. Her whole job is to capture the vision she has in her head and make it so in real life by doling out advice, offering out helpful information, and instructing the actors.

“I imagine there’s still some differences.”

“Yes,” she agrees. “There’s a whole formula to it. It can get a little tricky at times, but much like you’re in charge of the creativity at your shoots, I’m in charge on set. When I’m in character, my A.D. takes over and has the opportunity to boss me around, but it’s all in accordance to what I planned from the start.

“Which do you prefer? Acting or directing?”

She taps her chin as she gives his question real consideration. Each one has its’ own merits and she isn’t sure if she could necessarily choose one over the other. “Directing is fun, but I don’t think I’ll make it my main career any time soon. Maybe in a few years when I’ve lost my appeal.”

He laughs at her. “I dinna see that happening. Ye’re amazing and I’ve heard loads of people talk about how talented you are.”

She is thankful for the distance so he can’t see the heat creeping into her cheeks. She has heard it from many over the years, but it catches her off guard when people tell her from a genuine place. Winning awards was okay but at the end of the day it was just a trophy. She loves hearing from fans about how her films moved them or how they caught one of her plays. She cares about them. “Well anyway… I like acting. But directing is fun and I do want to continue it, just maybe not while I’m also serving as actor, director, and producer.”

“Yes, that is probably for the best. Ye sound knackered.”

“I am,” she groans, settling into the cushions of the sofa in her trailer. “Some of my cast mates are trying me and I’m at my wit’s end with them and their egos.”

“Dinna murder anyone.”

“I’ll try to curve those violent impulses. So what are you doing now that your Vogue photoshoot is complete?”

“I did some sightseeing and took the occasional photo. Sometimes I like taking my camera with me to see what I can capture that day. While it is nice to have a steady income and work with all of my connections, I enjoy it most when I can wander and capture whatever suits my fancy.”

“That sounds lovely. Where are you off to next?”

“I’m in London at the moment. There’s a gallery owner who wants to showcase my work and we’re negotiating terms. They’re based in New York but were over here for business already. Then I’ve got to meet with a few candidates to replace my assistant. There are other meetings to discuss potential projects and possibly a book.”

“Oooh a book? Would I get a free copy?”

“Hmm… I dinna ken. Ye are rich and certainly could afford it. I really only give them out to my friends and family, not people who diss the prequels and prefer waffles.”

She scoffs. “It is the way.”

“Did you just quote _The Mandalorian?_ ”

“No?”

He chuckles filling her with warmth at the rich sound. He laughs freely and without care.

“Maybe… okay fine I did.”

“I wonder what the world would think if they knew what a huge dork ye were?”

“Jamie,” she pouts. “I’m not a dork.”

“I dinna know. Ye like Star Wars, comic books, cosplaying, and ye’re a former theatre kid.”

“I hate you.”

“All I’m hearing is love.”

She stills at the word. It brings her back to the reason for the call. They inadvertently exchanged ‘I love you’ through GIFs. She knows what she meant when she sent it, but that doesn’t speak for him even with his follow up GIF. She bites down hard on her lip, yelping as she breaks through the skin. “Shit! Hold on!” She cries out as she meanders across her trailer in search of a tissue or anything to stop the bleeding. At least she has been wrapped for the day and is only needed on set in a directorial capacity and it’ll be a few days before she films again anyway.

It doesn’t stem the flow of humiliation when she hears Jamie’s cackles through the speaker as she runs around like a chicken without its’ head. She glares at her phone, wishing it was him so she could glare at him in person for being an ass.

Part of her likes that even after laying all the cards on the table and revealing her self to him, he hasn’t treated her differently. His taunting is the same and he hasn’t asked if she had connections to benefit him. Instead he asks questions in relation to her and laughs at her seriously mortifying behavior.

He gets her without trying. She is trying to come to terms with that because in her nearly 27 years that hasn’t happened at all. Even her parents struggled to understand her in the beginning when it became apparent how their interests vastly differed. Eventually the three of them figured out their differences and found commonalities to bond over, but no one just got her humour from the start or appreciated her love of comics and kitschy movies.

Jamie was the same as her, which made it all the better. He had some questionable likes that made her wrinkle her nose in distaste, but it wasn’t anything to cause her to change her mind about him. He was the something missing from her life. She knows that now.

“Give me a sec,” she calls across the space as she finally finds some tissues. She wants to bury her head in the sand and hide from this moment, but at least he’s just laughing as opposed to anything else. She dabs the area, eyes fixed on the much abused lip in the mirror. It isn’t as horrible as she thought but she definitely should stay away from any spicy or hot foods until the wound closes. She returns to her sofa and manoeuvres herself into a comfortable seated position.

She has another 45 minutes before she’s required back on set. She does need to leave a little before then to review her notes for the upcoming scene, which she technically should be doing instead of conversing on the phone with Jamie. She wants a little extra time with him before the real world creeps back in. “Okay I’m back.”

“What happened?”

She ducks her head despite him being unable to see her. “I bit my lip,” she mumbles incoherently.

“I’m sorry?” There’s faint amusement lacing his tone.

She growls. “Ugh, I bit my lip, okay?”

He cackles delightedly at her misfortune. She definitely owes him a punch or two when they finally meet. “How did ye manage to do that?”

“It wasn’t on purpose.” She defends herself. It was an accident resulting from hearing the word love slip past his lips. She isn’t opposed to love in general, but at the same time, can they definitively say they are in love. There has been distance between them since they first began communicating and they’ve had to figure out time differences to properly text. It hasn’t been the easiest of roads, not that she minds too much. She supposes that means something. “I was caught off guard.”

He is silent for a moment and she suspects he knows what spooked her. “Look I’m not going to pretend to understand… your line of thinking,” he eventually says. “But I do think that this could be something bigger than two people accidentally texting each other. I can easily see myself falling for you and in many ways I have and that’s without meeting you. I know if I met you, I would love you.”

She gasps, her hand hovering over her mouth at his professing his feelings. She hadn’t expected the confession and it’s thrown her off. She is in the same position. If she allows it, she’s going to fall for this man, harder than she has already. Her body trembles at the idea, not in an unpleasant manner either. He has hit on the crux of the situation. They’re in too deep and at this point in the juncture, they can’t turn back. There’s only two options available to them, and the first one isn’t one she wants to consider. So it is the latter, to continue exploring and planning for when their paths will inevitably cross. She has time to prepare for that moment, which soothes some of her fears about the situation.

“You’re right. I-I well I’m not particularly good at expressing my emotions at least mine as Clara. I’ve managed to convey perhaps every known emotion in my performances, but as myself, I’ve struggled endlessly. I’m not always clear on my wants and desires and haven’t had much experience in relationships. I like you way more than I should and I know this has the potential to be something incredible.” She licks her lips, ignoring the tangy, salty taste of blood. “I want you. I want to go on a date and hear about your family, your photography and all of it. So I’m in.”

It is unusual for her to be so decisive about anything concerning her personal life. She shies away from it, afraid of what it could mean, but Jamie makes her brave.

“Good!” His voice deepens. “I’m going to take you out on a date and we will figure out if all of this translates well to an in person meeting.”

She suspects it will. She can’t imagine the chemistry they’re experiencing not applying to when they’re face to face. “Okay,” she swallows back her nerves, squeaking a little. “We’ve got a date.” The giddiness mounting inside of her is surprising, then again the whole situation has been a whirlwind. It is what she needed at the time even if she was unaware. “But you don’t have to do anything fancy to impress me. I’m a casual person. Fancy restaurants are more for schmoozing in my opinion. I like originality and wearing jeans.” She giggles uncontrollably. If her fans and the press could see her, they would be shocked at how normal she is. “I mean you can do whatever you want, but you really don’t have go out of your way to impress me. I’m already impressed by you.” How was that for honesty, she thinks.

“Noted,” he comments thoughtfully. It’s amazing the things she can tell by listening to the likes and drops in his voice. “I do think your fans would be rather shocked to discover that a woman as young as yerself spends much of her time in bed watching Netflix.”

“Jamie,” she scolds playfully. “You can’t go revealing all of my secrets. A girl has to keep some mystery.”

“I’ll keep all of yours.” It’s soft and quiet and she isn’t entirely sure he meant for her to hear.

She is touched by his words. A few weeks ago, she hadn’t known what to make of the infuriating man who constantly challenged her and said things to be contrary. Yet she knows he is gentle and kind, far kinder than she thought she would find. “Thank you,” she brushes away a lone tear. “I’ve got to go. I have to prepare some notes and maybe meditate or else I’ll murder one of them.”

He laughs, knowing all too well how serious she is about how she despises her cast mates. “Okay CB, we can text later. I’m about to head to bed soon anyway. So good night and please don’t kill anyone, then we won’t have an opportunity to go on a date. I’ll have to visit you behind bars and no offense but orange isn’t yer colour.”

“Rude! And I won’t.” She rolls her eyes. “I’ll just think about it.” She teases. There’s no harm in imagining all the ways she could torture the assholes she has to work with. Honestly when they were casting several months ago, she hadn’t expected any of them to be divas. She had heard primarily good things about all of them from others in the industry and was looking forward to having the opportunity to work with them until that first week. They have amazing chemistry on set as a cast and perhaps all the tension does translate well to the screen, however there isn’t any love lost between any of them.

She gets on better with her supporting cast mates. They’re kind and empathetic to her plight. They take direction and don’t argue back with her. She would definitely help them get cast in another picture if they found themselves struggling. The other stars, that’s a different problem, unlikely to get solved. She has to buck up and suffer through the remainder of filming. She is nearly at the end and won’t have to see any of them for almost an entire year when their promotion tour begins. That’s so long from this point that she isn’t worried about it in the slightest. It might even be enough time to get over how much she despises them.

“Night Jamie, sleep well.” She ends the call and leans back.

She had a date. She is going on a date with Jamie in a few weeks. He wants to date her. Her internal squeals can no longer be contained and soon enough she’s doing a little dance and cheer. She doesn’t think her nasty cast mates could kill her mood. There’s a man, a lovely, compassionate, beautiful man who loves her. He all but admitted it and he wants to see her.

“Ahhh!!!” She clutches her heart excitedly. “So this is love, mmm,” she starts singing. “So this is love. So this is what makes life divine. I’m all aglow, mmm.” She doesn’t know how she could fall harder for him, but she won’t rule it out as impossible. “And now I know the key to heaven is all mine.”

She waltzes across her trailer, her head in the clouds and hearts shooting from her eyes. It’s all too good to be true and yet it’s happening. He didn’t react poorly. He couldn’t care less. Not exactly true but he doesn’t care in the way that others would. “My heart has wings, mmm and I can fly. I’ll touch every star in the sky.”

Kara frowns as she stands outside her boss’ trailer. The singing has stopped her short. She hasn’t heard her boss like this and she’s worked for her for two years. It isn’t the fact that she’s singing that has her hesitating as she knows that Clara is multi-talented having appeared on the West End and Broadway before age fifteen and has done one musical movie. It’s that she sounds happy and is singing of love.

“So this is the miracle that I’ve been dreaming of, mmm, mmm so this is love.” Kara smiles as she listens outside the door. She loves her voice, secretly has the soundtrack to the musical CB appeared in a few years back. If anything, she has improved, sounding quite angelic. Her voice is sweet and strong as she pours herself into every word. There is undeniable power and control as the melody washes over her, tugging at something deep inside. Yet despite the power in her tone, there is something quiet and soft that is hauntingly beautiful.

If she hadn’t had her ear pressed, she wouldn’t have really heard it. She is happy to not have missed it, delighted that Clara has finally allowed herself to feel something instead of going through the motions. She is extremely talented and is able to portray the human experience as she is dedicated to her craft, but off set, she hides it away. When she smiles, it rarely reached her eyes. Kara saw how she looked at couples, the longing tucked away as she pretended not to be bothered. It wasn’t hard to realise she was lonely.

If she meets this Jamie because she knows that’s who it is that has her boss all a flutter, she has to thank him profusely for opening up CB and getting her out of her shell.

She knocks loudly, giving Clara the opportunity to get herself together to stave off any apparent embarrassment. It was a private moment after all and she doesn’t think her boss would take too kindly to the fact she heard her entire performance.

Clara opens the door and Kara nearly gapes at the other woman. There’s a noticeable spark in her eyes and is that… there’s a huge smile, the largest and realest she’s seen on CB’s face since she met her. It lights up the room and makes her feel the same happiness. Her face is relaxed, none of the stress from earlier lining her face. The frown lines have vanished and Kara thinks she might have to invest in love after all this if it can cause such a transformation in her boss. “Hi,” Clara greets her jubilantly, ushering her inside the cool space. “Come in,” she tugs on her assistant’s arm, pulling her over to the sofa.

They sit on opposite ends. Kara keeps her comments to herself, admiring the way Clara grins stupidly to herself. She is one of the few people in the know about how big of a dork her boss is and yet she hasn’t ever seen that dopey smile adorning her face before. It’s a little dorky, but she can’t ignore how calm Clara is. It is almost frightening how much her countenance changed in the last forty minutes.

Clara called lunch after the fifth take of the same scene when Rebecca had once again ignored her advice. Clara had respectfully told her earlier that morning her specific directions and vision for the scene, and Rebecca blatantly ignored it, later arguing with Clara over it.

“So what brings you by?” Clara can’t stop grinning and she’s sure her assistant has noticed. Luckily she doesn’t comment on it.

Kara sighs. “Rebecca wants a meeting to discuss her interpretation.”

The mention of the woman’s name is almost enough to sour her mood, but she keeps her spirits up with the reminder that she has a date when all of this is over. Her current situation is but a temporary one. Soon enough, she will be free. And her future is looking a whole lot brighter.

“Yes, I imagine she does. I’ll meet with her. I can’t say I’ll be open to changing my mind, but I’ll at least hear her out. These last few days have been extraordinarily long and I don’t want to make it longer.”

Her assistant is noticeably taken aback by her new stance. Her boss isn’t unreasonable, however she is firm and normally fair. These last few weeks have made her a little short tempered and openly frustrated, not to the point where she was unpleasant though. “Really?” Kara asks.

Clara rubs tiredly at her temples. “Yes, at least then she can’t accuse me of ignoring her. It’s unlikely I’ll change my mind as my interpretation is more in line with the tone of the film and everything we’ve shot so far, but perhaps if I’m seen as being open, she’ll be more amiable and prone to listening to my directions.”

Kara doesn’t think it could hurt at this point. They’re trying to finish things as quickly as possible and if things could move along a little quicker, it is possible to knock off a week. The issue that has arisen is the number of times they’re re-shooting a scene for whatever reason. Some days there weren’t any reshoots and others, it takes forever to get from one scene to the next because of all the takes. Yes some scenes they do multiple takes only to get different shots and focuses, but others it is entirely because of the main cast.

“I’ll text her and tell her you’ll be over soon enough. Did you eat any of your lunch?” Kara doesn’t wait for her to answer. “I can answer for you. No you didn’t.” She heads over to the mini fridge pulling out the salad she ordered for her boss and had delivered. “How you forget to eat is beyond me.” She sets it down in front of Clara and heads back to grab a water. “Eat,” she orders. This is one of the few times she gets a chance to boss her around. She has no idea how Clara has made it so long without her there. She constantly forgets to eat after getting caught up in her work.

Clara rolls her eyes and does as ordered. As she eats, she looks over her notes, making a few changes here and there, as her assistant handles some emails. “Your agent wants you to call later, some opportunity that’s too good to ignore. Your mother wants to confirm travel plans.”

She snaps her head up, eyes marred with confusion. Travel plans? “What travel plans?”

“Remember your parents are flying in to visit whilst you’re in New York.”

No she does not in fact remember this. “Wh-when the hell did I make these plans?” She racks her brain, and finds herself coming up short, completely stumped.

“I think it was right before we came here. You haven’t seen your parents since Christmas.”

“I’ve been _busy,”_ she hasn’t intentionally ignored visiting them. She just hasn’t had the time. After the holidays, she did a multi-episode stint on a show and then had to start preparations for this project. Her parents were busy themselves with their research and teaching. “Okay, okay,” she mutters. “I can do a week with them in New York. I don’t have anything planned at all except for that one meeting.”

“That’s the spirit. Um let’s see, your management team wants a meeting before that brand meeting. And the studio is pleased so far with what they’ve seen.”

“That’s not too bad. I’ll worry about the rest later.”

She finishes her lunch and drains the rest of her water before collecting her notes and heading out. With a newfound confidence, she steps into the beaming sun and returns it with a smile of her own. Kara simply shakes her head. Her boss is a huge dork and she wouldn’t change her. She may need to threaten this Jamie about hurting her, but she doesn’t think she has to worry too much about any of that. She trails behind Clara, texting her publicist about this new development. Their whole team has wondered when CB would finally find someone who deserved her and cared about her for who she is as a person and not a celebrity.

**Kristin: you’re kidding**

**Kara: no, there’s an honest to goodness man in our little CB’s life**

**Kristin: and she’s happy?**

**Kara: the happiest, she’s been wearing the cheesiest grin for at least the last half hour and I caught her singing**

**Kristin: singing?**

**Kara: So This Is Love from Cinderella, she’s got it bad.**

**Kristin: good for her, I was getting worried after the last dipshit dipped when he realized she wasn’t going to help him further his career. She was cut up a out that.**

**Kara: yeah she swore off men**

**Kristin: I really did hate that asshole especially after he told her that was all she was good for.**

**Kara: which is why you covertly released those emails to the press**

**Kristin: I would do it again for her. Hopefully this one is miles above the last one.**

**Kara: I think so. I saw some of their texts when I handled some stuff on her phone. He knows she’s a huge dork and he is too. She’s always texting him and smiling.**

**Kristin: good. I’ll wait for her to talk to me about it.**

**Kara: smart! She doesn’t know I saw anything. She hasn’t said anything but I think it is getting serious.**

**Kristin: she needs that. Anyway, I’ve got to go. One of my other clients is in the middle of a public nightmare.**

**Kara: good luck with all of that.**

** Kristin: Keep our girl safe  **

** Kara: Will do **

Kara knows these next few weeks are going to be a little easier to handle if her boss is in love and not stressing over every little thing. If she can assist in any way, she will.

* * *

Clara squeezes her eyes shut before reopening them as she looks at her phone. “Did that seriously just happen?” She questions whether or not she’s dreaming because this seriously can’t be reality. Things like this just don’t happen, especially not to her. “I have a boyfriend.” She dances around her hotel room, unable to contain her exuberance. “I have a boyfriend,” she sings, shaking her hips.

After four weeks of texts and phone calls, she has a boyfriend. She giggles to herself, her enthusiasm bubbling over. If she is dressing up at a comic con then so is he. They’re going to comic con together. “Oh my gosh,” she throws herself onto her bed and screams into her pillow, kicking her legs into the mattress. “I have a boyfriend!!!”

Over 11k kilometers away, Jamie stares down at his phone in shock. Disbelief crosses his face as he rereads the latest stream of texts. “I have a girlfriend.” He says, a massive grin slowly forming on his face. “Clara is my girlfriend.” He laughs, his hand coming up to rest over his rapidly beating heart.

Was this real? Was he actually the boyfriend of Clara? How had he gotten so lucky? He shakes his head because this couldn’t be real, except when he unlocks his phone to look at the texts once again, it’s there plain as day. He has a girlfriend and she’s invited him to San Diego Comic Con, and he suspects she’s already planning what they’re wearing if he knows her as well as he thinks he does. “She’s my girlfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're dating!!! And going to comic con together.  
> Also while not intentional all the spelling errors in their texts are a result of my own autocorrect adding a layer of realism.  
> You can also follow me on tumblr under jmoonrise where on occasion I do ask for your input but it’s always a fun time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So there's a lot happening in this chapter and some more time jumping. We've just jumped ahead about two weeks from the previous chapter. Pay attention to the time stamps as they'll help with the progression. Okay ignore some of them only because my phone apparently deleted some screenshots, which I realized belatedly so some of them I had to do again.  
> This chapter is in dedication of my cousin. Today would have been her 29th birthday and she always wanted me to be happy. And writing makes me infinitely happy. It is even stranger now that I'm almost a full two years older than her when she died. It seems unreal, so this is for Bri.

Clara sighs, falling back onto her bed. The film has finally wrapped after four of the longest months of her life. She will never make the mistake of performing three jobs when one is tough on its’ own. Yesterday they wrapped the remaining characters and today was everyone clearing out their belongings. There’s a cast and crew wrap party in a few hours, which she isn’t exactly looking forward to after being in close proximity with some less than desirable people these last few months.

She swears she will lose her mind if the studio opts for a sequel. The film is generating some buzz online and somehow it was released two weeks ago she was the director on the project.

She had to go on Twitter for a live Q&A where she fielded a lot of questions ranging from dating life to any upcoming projects to her work as a director. She doesn’t mind speaking to her fans, especially when they’re seeking advice. But this time she had sought the help of her PR team as she didn’t want to accidentally reveal anything concerning her private life and her recent change in her relationship status. That is a discussion awaiting her when she gets back to the mainland that unfortunately she can’t ignore as much as she wants to, otherwise the press will do it for her.

She can normally slip by them, but with her out of the public eye and her name attached to the film in several different capacities, public interest has renewed and her fans are curious as to what she’s been doing all this time. She hasn’t posted a single photo of herself since she’s arrived, only the places she’s gone.

It’s definitely heightened the curiosity surrounding her. She refuses to cow to the press or her fans. She knows at some point she’ll have to make a statement, otherwise the whole affair could get messy and invasive, particularly for Jamie. She doesn’t want anyone prying into his life. He may be a public figure, but he is mostly known in certain circles and definitely not any of the ones she’s associated with. 

Her publicist found out from her assistant, not that she’s upset as it was all to be expected. If anything she is surprised it took Kara so long to discover she was talking to someone. Well she is upset that she ran a background check on him. She is close to all of those on her team and understands they worry for her, she just wishes they worried a lot less than they do.

She is a grown woman capable of choosing (most of the time) who she dates and doesn’t enjoy when her team decides to interfere without her permission. The last guy was a jerk and she’ll admit that. She did choose poorly, but it wasn’t as if she was seriously interested in him. He was a clout chaser, using her to boost his own position in Hollywood.

She dumped him when she realised he made her feel miserable and put her down in an effort to elevate himself. Her team hated him when they had seen the aftermath of what he had done to her. He was her costar in her last picture and they had only done one interview before her team threatened the studio and issued a warning that they’d cancel the remaining of the press tour if they didn’t do something about him.

His misogynistic attitude and constant backhanded compliments had not endeared him to her team or her fans. She wasn’t one to believe in cancel culture but her fans sure as hell did. And they put out a cancel on him after he talked over her one too many times. His constant jibes and jabs at her had made the host uncomfortable and the audience was unusually silent. It was the reason she vowed to never date a costar, or another actor.

She lifts her phone to text Jamie. Her boyfriend! She squeals internally whenever she thinks about it. Two weeks later and it still makes her giddy and bubbly inside when she thinks of him. He is hers and while she keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop because that’s what inevitably happens in her topsy turvy life, it hasn’t. He calls her Clara or CB, sometimes his faerie if he wants to annoy her, and if he wants to piss her off, it’s Clarissa. She has learned to begrudgingly accept that he won’t stop teasing her. It’s why she won’t ever admit to the little white lie she told him nearly a month ago. He would never let her live it down.

He hasn’t posted anywhere that he’s dating her, nor has her name appeared in any articles detailing some of the mortifying facts she has shared with him. He was hesitant to inform his family of their relationship for her benefit and only decided to say anything when she said she didn’t mind. He was worried about anyone finding out and she appreciated he worried about something leaking to the press.

Jamie had flowers delivered to set on her last day and her gaze has hardly left the bouquet of daisies. He remembered her favorite flower after she told him during one of their games of twenty questions. She is finding it difficult to believe a man like him actually exists, but he does. She can’t fathom how he is everything he says he is.

Clara takes a swig from the bottle, resting on the bed. The party will be an open bar, but she needs some liquid courage before making her appearance. Overall, it wasn’t the worst experience of her life, but damn if she didn’t hate some of the people she has had to spend the last few months with. She deserves this after refraining from alcohol throughout the entire filming process. She needs a night to have some fun.

Her phone pings with a reply from Jamie, bringing a smile to her face.

After finishing up her chat with Jamie, she touches up her make-up, fixes her hair, and tidies her dress. Her assistant texts and tells her she is waiting for her by the car.

She stumbles a bit in bit in her heels, slightly unsteady on her feet, but rights herself immediately as she nears the car. Her assistant opens the backdoor with a fond roll of her eyes. “The bottle?” She asks with a small laugh.

“Oh don’t get all righteous on me,” she mumbles, sliding into the vehicle. “I swear if it didn’t involve jail time I would’ve murdered them, especially Becca and Cam. How can two human beings be so awful, but appear as the kindest and mild mannered people in the tabloids?”

“Good PR teams,” Kara chimes in. “Remember money speaks in this industry and in Becca’s case, her dad is a huge producer.”

“One of the main reasons we considered her for the role, not to say she is a terrible actress, but her dad is one of the backers. I wanted to go with Alyssa, but was out voted by the rest of the team.” Clara is somewhat bitter by this in the aftermath of production. She would make sure to keep her name away from any project tied to Becca in the future. “I don’t want to think of any of that. I want to par-tay and drink, and then sleep the whole day away tomorrow before leaving the after to go back home.”

Kara shakes her head, knowing exactly what sort of shenanigans she is in for with a drunk CB. She adores her friend and would do anything for her, but she knows she is going to be laughing her ass off at all of her antics and recording them for posterity. She has to if she wants to call herself C-Biscuit’s best friend. What sort of friend wouldn’t get evidence of their friend’s humiliating behavior?

“You’re going to sing aren’t you?” Kara has bore witness to drunk Clara enough times to predict her actions and CB always goes back to karaoke. Kara knows production rented out a karaoke bar for tonight’s festivities, which they’re already late too. She is positive it is intentional, so her boss can lessen her time around people she dislikes.

“I’ve been practicing.” She grins lopsidedly

“And I’m assuming you’ve picked out your songs?” Clara has some weird ass fetish for 90s music when she’s drunk. Kara has yet to figure out why that is, only that it is extremely entertaining because it is like Clara has catalogued the entire decade. She has watched her vogue, dance like a member of a boyband, and get into every other popular genre in the 90s from grunge to hip-hop. It is amazing honestly how many songs she knows.

“Uh huh,” she bobs her head as she rummages in her clutch, plucking her lipstick out and lining her lips. “It’s a surprise though.” Her smile widens and Kara knows she is in for it tonight.

Forty minutes later she wants to cover her face. Clara delivered her speech and it was something. She wasn’t callous, but there were some insults slickly thrown in directed at some of her cast mates. It went over their heads, but definitely not everyone’s.

And now Clara is onstage with Jeremy, one of the supporting actors who has been with them since production started in New Orleans. He is wearing white pants and a white shirt, which causes her to raise a brow. It is an unusual choice and she is beginning to suspect it has something to do with the reason he is up onstage.

“ _Shadows falling, baby we stand alone.”_ Kara nearly spits out her drink when she hears the opening lyrics. “ _Out on the street anybody you meet got a heartache of their own."_

“Oh shit!” She laughs. While Clara has a penchant for choosing songs from the nineties, she sometimes strayed away when persuaded. If there is anything she has learned about the woman in their years together, it is how much she loves Barbra Streisand. One of her prized possessions is a photo of them together when Clara was twelve and then she met her again about four years ago.

The assistant pulls out her phone, opening up her Snapchat, which is set to private.

“ _There’s danger in the dark,” “it oughta be illegal” “make it a crime to be out in the dark” “it oughta be illegal,”_ and Kara cheers loudly. Their voices are surprisingly complimentary and they’ve got great chemistry.

“ _And we got nothing to be guilty of, our love will climb any mountain, near or far, we are.”_ Kara snorts at the two of them. They are reminding her so much of the [video](https://youtu.be/r1AIm9Tg2CE) Clara forced her to watch of Babs and Barry. She definitely planned this before executing it to perfection. It explains the white dress instead of the black one she packed for her.

Clara bops in tune with the music, her body swinging side to side, bobbing her head, and her eyes sparkle with the thrill of performing for a crowd. There is something captivating about her and she has a lot of stage presence. She captures the spirit of Barbra despite her inebriated state and the whole thing is just endearing if she’s honest.

“ _We are devotion and we got nothing to be sorry for. Our love is one in a million. Eyes can see that we got a highway to the sky. Don’t want to hear your. And we got nothing to be guilty of, my love.”_

Kara is up on her feet clapping for the idiots when they finish. They bow and soak up all of the attention cast and crew heaps on them. “Oh my god,” she snickers at what she just witnessed. That particular selection was unexpected and not one she has heard.

Clara trails over to her, beaming radiantly as she slips onto the stool, ordering a shot of whiskey.

“What the fuck was that?” She exclaims.

CB turns to her innocently. “What?”

Kara’s eyes widen as she points to the stage. “Did you plan that?”

The actress waves off her concerns as she downs the shot.

“Is that where you disappeared to earlier today? Because I don’t recognize the dress either and it sounded as if you had rehearsed a bit.”

She rolls her eyes. “Okay fine, I bought the dress for the occasion. I mean come on it is iconic and I wasn’t going to diss the legendary Barbra Streisand.”

“i can’t believe you. Actually I can.” Kara mutters something about theatre kids as Clara glares at her.

“There’s nothing wrong with having fun.”

Kara’s face softens. “You’re right. I just was thrown off.”

“Jeremy wanted to perform with me. He’s a fan and a theatre kid too. We bonded over Barbra and we went through some of her songs to decide which one to perform tonight.”

“I’m going to assume you’re not done singing.”

“Hell no! I love singing for people and drinking and this is a rare opportunity to combine both.”

Twenty minutes later, Clara is on her third song of the night and decidedly less sober than she was the first time.

_“I hate the world today. You’re so good to me. I know but I can’t change.”_

Kara smiles and records as Clara finds her groove with [Bitch](https://youtu.be/_ivt_N2Zcts) _._ Her hips are swishing and she is doing some air guitar sequence. Kara is going to send this one specifically to C-Biscuit’s boyfriend. She is reminded of something CB said and decides to question him about it because she hadn’t expected her to go as hard on the drinks or karaoke.

“ _I’m a little bit of everything all rolled into one. I’m a bitch. I’m a lover. I’m a child. I’m a mother. I’m a sinner. I’m a saint. And I do not feel ashamed. I’m your hell. I’m your dream. I’m nothing in between. You know you wouldn’t want it any other way.”_

Kara remembers watching some home videos when they visited CB’s parents and this was a favorite of thirteen year old Clara and has stayed on her drunk karaoke list. She supposes she should feel thankful she hasn’t dug out the Taylor Swift because that’s when she knows her boss is really drunk.

It is two songs later when she realizes Clara has gotten swept up with the night. She presses send on the videos. If Clara is going to put herself out there, her boyfriend deserves to know what he has to look forward to in the future and she thinks he could use the ammunition. 

* * *

Jamie opens the stream of videos and has to hold in his laughter as his sister stares at him suspiciously. “Holy shit!” He shouts as the music filters through and he hears exactly what she’s singing.

“ _I get knocked down but I get up again.”_ His chortles can’t be contained when he watches her actually trip over her feet from dancing too hard. She falls and comes back up on the next line as if it were intentional, which he knows it wasn’t. “ _You are never going to keep me down._ ” Her cheeks are flushed from more than just the alcohol coursing through her system.

She has been sending him texts and they went from mildly tipsy to beyond intoxicated within the last hour. The videos he has received from her friend/assistant have painted the best picture for him of what’s happening. He honestly didn’t know she had it in her, and he’s sort of proud that she finally let loose after all the pent up aggravation.

“ _I get knocked down, but I get up again.”_ In the background, he can hear the drunk cast and crew ( _we’ll be singing). “You’re never going to get me down.” (When we’re winning.)_

Someone near Kara is speaking and he can just make out what they’re saying. “ _Damn, I didn’t know CB was this fun. If I had, I would’ve invited her out for drinks months ago. She goes hardcore.”_

Jamie has to grin at that. His girlfriend doesn’t play with her liquor or her karaoke as he has come to learn. He has watched her get down to _No Diggity_ , get her girl group on with _Wannabe_ and _Creep,_ and catch her feels with _Wonderwall._ He thought Kara was joking when she mentioned the whole obsession with 90s music, but aside from that first selection, every song was plucked straight from their early childhood.

It’s the last video she sends that has him nearly spitting up his water. He has to cover his face as she sings an incredibly moving, extremely dramatic and ostentatious rendition of _All By Myself._ He can see her drunk friends are just as into it as her, mouthing the words and swaying unsteadily.

“What the hell are ye watching? Ye’ve been so wrapped up in yer phone these last few days and acting all secretive.”

He supposes he could’ve done a better job of staying engaged when around his family. His mother and sister have been sending him odd looks the last couple of days when he has gone off for some privacy to talk to his girlfriend. They hadn’t really discussed sharing their relationship with their family, and while some Kara and the rest of her team know, he hasn’t found the courage to reveal to anyone they are in fact dating.

He doesn’t want to explain the circumstances to his mother. She has been nagging him recently about settling down because apparently at thirty, he was ready to put out on the pasture. He sympathizes with her need to see him settled with a family, but her constant pimping him out to the local girls isn’t the way he wants to meet a woman.

Technically, he hasn’t met his woman, but it is all semantics. He knows her better than he knows 98% of the women in his life.

“Are ye seein’ someone?” Jenny raises a dark brow and he ducks his head under her scrutinizing gaze. He doesn’t want to lie to her, but he doesn’t want her judgment either.

He decides to bite the bullet, aware his sister won’t lighten up. She is like a bloodhound when she catches a scent and she is on his. “Okay, fine, I have a girlfriend.”

Several emotions flicker across his sister’s face before she nudges him with a soft smile. “Ye have a real girlfriend? Some woman is daft enough to date ye?”

He makes a face at her. “Ha ha very funny, I’m serious.”

Jenny kisses his head. “I’ll make some tea and ye can tell me about this mystery woman. Is that who ye’ve been texting and calling at all sorts of strange hours?” She rummages through the cupboards in search of what she needs before putting the kettle on.

Jamie nods. “She lives in America, although she has been living in Hawaii the last two months. So it’s been difficult to have such a massive time difference between us.”

Jenny hums as she listens to him. “How did ye meet her?”

He scrunches up his face, fiddling with the cap on his water. He isn’t ashamed of the way they connected, but his sister wouldn’t approve. He doesn’t need to tell her to know that either, but he has never been able to lie to her. He sighs. “I accidentally texted her number instead of my manager. Laura had gotten a new number and I typed in one digit wrong.”

Jenny whirls around to face him, forgetting the tea for a moment. Her eyebrows race up her forehead, somehow drawing together at the same time. He doesn’t like that expression. “Have ye actually met her in person? How do ye ken if she’s no’ some psycho or opportunist?”

He snorts at the irony. If anything, people would think him the opportunist and worry if he’s a psycho. “Trust me, she isn’t.”

The skepticism remains on her face as she brings the mugs over to the table. “How can ye be so sure?”

“Can ye keep a secret? I mean it Jenny. Ye can no’ go around yapping yer mouth as usual.”

Jenny rears back, having taken offense to his statement. It is true. His sister is a notorious gossip and has been since she was a girl. She and her friends spread gossip faster than they could blink. “Fine, I promise.”

“I’m dating Clara Beth.”

Her brows scrunched together, confusion marring her features. “Like the actress?”

“Yes, the actress.”

Then she did something surprising, the last thing he expected from her. She laughed. It was more comparable to a guffaw as she slapped the table, tea shaking as her body shook. Jamie scowled at his sister. “I’m serious. It is why I laughed when ye thought she was taking advantage of me. Most people would think it was the other way around.”

She sobers when he doesn’t join in with her. “Ye’re serious?”

“Yes,” he huffs. “I know it sounds absolutely mad, but we connected from the very first text. I really do like her. She isn’t like all the women mam has been throwing at me. She is geeky and a theatre kid who really does sing show tunes. She thinks the original _Star Wars_ trilogy is the best and loves to do karaoke when she is drunk.”

Jenny sits back in her chair and she realizes her dope of a brother is in love. She hasn’t seen him like this ever and though she wishes it were someone local so he would move back, she supposes he could do a lot worse. “How long has this been going on?”

“A bit over a month, but we’ve been dating nearly three weeks. She makes me laugh and always says the unexpected. She likes my pictures and has spammed my insta. She challenges me in the best ways possible.”

Jenny smiles as she takes a sip of her tea. “I suppose it makes sense why she’s in Hawaii. Clara Beth has been there for the last couple of months filming her newest film.”

Jamie wrinkles his nose when he hears her full name. Hearing others talk about her, he understands more why she prefers Clara or CB. It makes her feel like everyone else instead of someone larger than life like she’s more of a personality than a person. “Yeah, she’s been ready to murder some of her costars.”

Jenny leans forward, always ready to receive some hot gossip. “It’s no’ like I can tell anyone,” she says when he hesitates.

And she is right. She would then have to say where she got the information. “Weel ye dinna hear from me but Cameron Parker and Becca Simmons are some of the nastiest people ye could meet. Becca…”

Jenny listens with wonder in her eyes as her brother talks about a woman she only knows through magazines and films. It isn’t that she doesn’t know or think the woman is a real person, but it is hard to think of her as being just like her. Hearing her brother talk about her, humanizes and makes her relatable in a way she hadn’t considered. There was no longer that distance that usually kept people from feeling as if celebrities were like them.

“And it drives her crazy when I talk about those murderous tendencies of hers, but it’s all in good fun. She makes fun of me for my lack of taste in films and books. She is infuriating and beautiful and funny and more than I thought I could ever have. She gets me and doesn’t mind that I have to travel for work since her job requires it too.”

Jenny reaches across the table and covers his hand with her own. He turns it over, lacing their fingers together. “I canna wait to meet her.”

“Really?” He grins shyly.

“Aye, ye seem to really fancy her and I’ve never seen ye light up like this about any woman including yer first girlfriend.”

“Thank ye Jenny. I should mention that when ye meet just call her Clara. Clara Beth is really just her professional name and makes her feel detached from her life.”

She nods and acquiesces. “Ye have to tell mam. She thinks there is a woman and that ye dinna believe she’ll approve, which is why she hasn’t said anything.”

Jamie should have known. His sister learned how to sniff out a secret from their mother. They were never able to keep anything a secret for too long if their mother caught the trail and sussed out who had done what. She made them crack with a simple raise of her perfectly sculpted brows.

“Ugh,” he groans, not exactly excited to tell his mother. He isn’t ashamed of his relationship, more so, he isn’t ready to share Clara with his family. He hasn’t even had the time to have her to himself and with his family in the know, he’ll have even less time before his mother is begging him to bring her round. Jenny grins smugly, delighted she doesn’t have to be the one to inform their mother of her brother’s change in his relationship status. “I hate ye.”

* * *

* * *

Clara groans, burying her face in her pillow when she hears her phone once again. The drapes are pulled tightly with just the tiniest flicker of light peeking into the room. Her skull is pounding mercilessly and her stomach turns uncomfortably. If she moves from her position, she’ll be grabbing the bin as she makes her way to pray to the porcelain gods.

She lifts her head, snatching her phone off the pillow, squinting when she sees all of the notifications. There are too many for her to consider looking at with the way her head hurts. Her lips curl into a grimace, nearly a smile when she sees that Jamie has tried to check up on her. She doesn’t want to think too deeply about whatever she did the previous night because it is likely to embarrassing for words at this hours, especially after she notices the text from her mother.

For some reason, she texts her mother when she is drunk. It isn’t necessarily a conscious decision and she almost always regrets it as her mother tends to worry over her. “Fuck,” she mutters.

Her phone rings and it is Jamie, requesting a FaceTime. Without thinking about her current appearance or how miserable she is feeling, she slides her finger across the screen to accept. “Eep!” She squeals when she catches sight of her appearance in the camera. She tosses her phone across the bed to hide. “Oh my god, how could you look at me like this? I’m hideous.”

She hears that deep, rich laugh of his and her heart melts at the sound. “Always so dramatic, my little faerie.”

“I’m serious,” she moans pathetically. “I literally have smudged eye make-up and look like a fucking raccoon. My hair is a frizzy haystack and overall I look terrible.” Her eyes are bloodshot and despite the tan, she looks pale.

She isn’t appearing her best at the moment.

“I dinna care much about that, not to say ye aren’t beautiful because ye always are.”

Her voice is muffled by the blanket. “And you’re a charmer and my boyfriend, so I’m choosing to ignore that.”

“I knew what I would potentially see if I called. I didn’t think ye weren’t answering because ye dinna want to talk.”

“I literally just woke up when my phone dinged from your last text. Honestly, I don’t think I could move if I tried. I feel like I’ve been run over by a semi.”

“Aw, I’m sorry baby. Kara texted me she left some painkillers for you on the nightstand.”

Clara grimaces. She vaguely recalls her assistant advising her to take them, but in her drunken stupor, she tucked herself into bed and never got back up. She wasn’t in full control of her limbs and is surprised she managed to get the sheets untucked, then again she thinks Kara might be responsible for that feat. “I’m guessing given your lack of shock over my current state, we were in contact last night.”

The derisive snort he emits tells her everything she needs to know about the previous night. She moans miserably and sighs. “How bad?”

“Uh well yer voice is lovely and I loved how ye and yer costar Jeremy really embraced Barbra and Barry.”

She makes little noises in the back of her throat as pieces of the night come back to her. It’s all a little hazy sorting through her memories, but those ones are clearer as they were towards the beginning. She and Jeremy had talked about singing together and discovered their mutual love of Barbra as a result. It seemed fitting. “I’m guessing it didn’t end there.”

“You did sing _Tubthumping_ and proved that when you get knocked down, you get up again.” She hears the laugher in his voice and doesn’t want to know the reason for it.

“Tell me about something else. How is visiting your family?” She would much rather hear about that even in her poor state.

“I told my family about ye.”

Her head pops out of the sheet and she scrambles across the bed causing her stomach to roll. Her phone falls to the floor in her haste to reach the bathroom where she promptly hurls into the toilet. “I’m never drinking again.”

“I’ve heard that before,” warm hands caress her hair and pull it off her flushed face. Clara buries her face in her friend’s shoulder as she takes a few deep breaths.

Within seconds, her head is planted in the toilet once more as Kara sympathetically pats her back. “There, there C-Biscuit. It’ll be okay.” She would shake her head in vehement disagreement, but the action will make her feel worse. So she leans her head instead against the cool wall. “You may have gone too hard last night.”

Glaring is too painful think about. CB lazily raises her arm to flip her off, her arm dropping back to her lap. “I know it was you who sent the videos.”

“Who? Me? Never.”

“Fuck you.”

“You should be glad I didn’t send the Taylor Swift ones.”

“You wouldn’t!” Clara told Jamie she wasn’t a fan of the singer and she would prefer to maintain that illusion that she is in fact not a Swiftie. She would never be able to live it down after she dismissed popular music. “How bad was it?”

Kara makes a face and shrugs. “Well you told me at one point you’ve got cobwebs in your vagina and need a good dusting down there.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes, I found out just how badly you want Jamie, which I never needed to know. Then you pulled out all your favorite Taylor songs and started singing them when we were in the car, the elevator, and when I finally got you into your room.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Afraid not, you were singing _Style, Delicate, If This Was a Movie, Back to December_. You were really feeling it last night.”

More vomit comes up and Clara just keeps her face there, breathing in the putrid fumes of her bile, unable to face the light of day. “Ugh and I’m assuming I dedicated them.”

“As usual, although this time they were specifically for Jamie.”

Kara glances over in concern when she hears the strangled sounds CB is making. “I don’t even want to know about my karaoke choices after _Guilty._ ”

“That is probably for the best. How’s your ankle?”

“Fine, why?”

“You had a uh particularly vigorous rendition of _Tubthumping_. You took the falling down quite literally.”

“Oh my god, can I just hide forever.”

“We’ve all been there. You didn’t do anything particularly scandalous. Honestly, you don’t even reach the top 100 drunk scandals. You’re more of a cute, clumsy, babbling drunk.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Because it really doesn’t.”

“I wasn’t hired to make you feel better just to make your life easier.”

“You’re fired.”

Kara giggles. “Let me go order you some food to soak up whatever alcohol is still floating around in your system and then after you eat, you can go back to bed. We have nowhere to be until late tonight when we fly out.”

 _Thank god for small miracles._ She has immensely enjoyed her time in Hawaii, visiting the different islands during her time off, but she is ready for the comforts of home. She wants to slide between her sheets and snuggle into her giant bed. She misses the bustling of the city outside her window and she misses weather besides hot or rainy. There isn’t much in-between and she is sad to have missed the transition into spring in the city and now it is summer.

She flushes the toilet, not that it helps to rid the bathroom of the stench. She still has to pack, which she had done just the bare minimum of the previous day. She regrets that now when she thinks of everything she has to do before leaving tonight. She won’t get into New York until around seven or eight. At the moment, she can’t remember the exact time, just that it is early. At least this time tomorrow, she will be ensconced within the confines of her apartment, wrapped up in her unbelievably soft downy comforter, binging shows on Netflix or HBO or whatever catches her attention.

* * *

* * *

Clara frowns at the latest text she has received from Jamie. He has been awfully absent the last week, citing work related business and family engagements as the reason. She wasn’t worried about his lack of contact as she had her parents to contend with and her mother made her explain all of those snapchats on Kara’s story, which she’ll totally kill her assistant for later.

She can hardly fathom how someone who isn’t tech savvy knows how to operate Snapchat. Just in the last month, her mother asked her how to send a gif, yet somehow could use a social media app. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to her.

It wasn’t her family she had to field this week either with explanations and details. After Jamie told his mother and sister about her, they requested to follow her on her private insta. They followed her public one, but kept all their contact to her private one. It wasn't the way she intended for introductions to happen, but it has eased some of her anxiety about potentially meeting them in the future.

She liked talking to them and they shared loads of embarrassing stories about her boyfriend she couldn’t wait to use against him after all the blackmail material her assistant sent him last week. There is no way in hell she can live any of that down, especially after she saw the video of herself falling. She had to smack herself in the face after that.

It is half past five when she receives the knock on the door, coupled with the message from Jamie. Whatever is at the door is from him, so she doesn’t bother looking out the peep hole before she opens it.

Lips are on hers as arms wrap around her waist. She barely has a moment to breathe when she snaps back her arm with her fist balled and thrusts forward.

“Ow!” He pulls back, rubbing his jaw.

“You don’t greet a woman like that for the first time even if it was nice actually more than nice like really, really good. Maybe even the best I’ve had, regardless that isn’t how you introduce yourself in person.” She will definitely be telling Ellen about this, but only after she kisses the living daylights out of him because hot day-um. 

He grins sheepishly, holding out his hand. “Hi,” he sweeps back his curls with a roguish smile. “I’m Jamie Fraser.”

She ducks her head shyly as she takes his large hand in hers. “I’m Clara.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I skipped ahead another week and Jamie has surprised Clara in New York. What?!! I know some of you were super excited about them meeting and I hinted at it in the next few chapters but I really wanted it to be a surprise. I hope I surprised you guys.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter turned out very different from how I first imagined. I could't write it the way I wanted so I'm sorry. There will be some smut eventually but sadly it doesn't happen in this chapter. They do have sex during the time they spent together, but that's more of my head canon as opposed to explicitly written. This chapter is also the bulk of all our angst for the story.

* * *

Jamie opens up his email, spotting the one's he has left unopened and unsorted in his inbox. He hovers the mouse over them, internally debating the pros and cons. His wants to listen to his heart above all else, and it is telling him to not let go of Clara. Perhaps, he overreacted when she revealed she joined a show as a permanent cast member and will in turn be residing in New York permanently. 

He hasn't had to make a decision like that in his career, often floating from one destination to the next, following inspiration wherever it leads him. Then again, he had a fixed childhood, one where he grew up without any expectations and out of the spotlight. Clara hasn't had any of that. She left her homeland quite young and has been searching for a home ever since. She wants to grow a friend base beyond those in her inner circle, people she can ring up and ask out for coffee or to attend a concert. She doesn't want to live out of her suitcase, or spend only part of the year in her flat. She desires a home. 

Up until a few weeks ago when they ceased speaking, he had yet to give the idea much merit. Prior to meeting her, he was content jet setting off into the world, exploring the unknown and checking in on occasion when he had reception. Now though, there is an opportunity for him to acquire a real life, build one with someone incredible even if she is a Hufflepuff. She makes him laugh and think. She is beyond intelligent with a a bachelor's and master's degree in psychology and philosophy, specializing in moral psychology. How he didn't know that until spotting the framed diplomas in her office, he'll never know. It isn't on her Wikipedia page, he checked. She told him how it helped her get into the mindset of her characters, to place herself in their shoes, and how being an actress helped her with her degree. She was able to explore it from a different angle. 

He assumed when she said she deferred uni, she had just never gone, but it turned out, she corresponded for a time and then chose projects that filmed in the summer or were filmed in New York and scheduled around her studies. 

The last few weeks he has spent moping around his flat in London, unwilling to leave unless it was to get food. He doesn't have the motivation to do much of anything. 

It seems rather mad that he feels so deeply for someone who has only been in his life for about two months. Yet, the gap she filled is gaping and he misses her so much his heart aches. He finds himself reaching for his phone when he watches funny cat videos or when he caught a _Star Wars_ marathon. He wants to call her when a song on the radio plays that reminds him of her. His sister thinks he is pathetic and should grow a pair. He inclined to agree. He hadn't meant to hurt her either. He just needed to wrap his mind around settling down somewhere for her. He doesn't want to regret his decision, nor find himself resenting her in the future because he put down roots. 

All of this distance has cemented to him that she is the one. He is willing to try it out and to discover what it is he has been missing out on. He has already talked to his agent, manager, and accountant about finding a place of residence in New York City. He can't date her if he isn't around and he wants to be around. He wants to fight for her. 

His eyes flick over to the parcel he received earlier, the one with his costume. An idea starts to emerge of what he can do capture attention and apologize for his blunder. He'll likely end up going viral after such a spectacle, but if it makes her smile and offer him another chance, he'll take it. 

He is tired of being miserable and he knows for a fact, she hasn't faired as well either, so he exhales and clicks.

And soon enough, he is on his first of two planes, flying across the world to win back the woman of his dreams. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise everything is going to get worked out. I just can't help but have some conflict. Sorry for shitting on Hufflepuffs but come on... Hufflepuff, really? Gryffindor is where the real party is.
> 
> Also, you can see the official chapter count is 11. I don't want to drag out this one. It's just supposed to be something fun and cute. Up next is SDCC and let me tell you, you won’t want to miss Jamie’s bold movie to get Clara back. My notorious friend couldn’t stop laughing when I told her.
> 
> I might do a bonus chapter of one of their NYC dates that leads to more, but I just couldn't get it for this one.


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

Clara bounces her leg as she waits backstage before her panel. They are changing out the name placards and bringing in the fans. Friday is her easy day. Tomorrow she is scheduled for two panels, several interviews with the press, and she is taking over the live for _Elle._ She doesn't mind the business of her schedule as it keeps her mind from dwelling on... him. She gave herself a few weeks to have a good cry over him, and perhaps she had gone next level with it. Her friends have called around her, especially Kara and Kristin. They've refused to keep up with her particular brand of bullshit. Kara dumped a bucket of water on her after she refused to get off her sofa. Her assistant/friend informed she smelled like the streets of New York on trash day in the summer. 

It wasn't complimentary at all and still did little to motivate her to get off her ass. She just wanted to be sad. Kara is lucky. She lives in obscurity and doesn't have to contend with every guy she dates knowing her name. She thought Jamie was different, at the very least he led her to believe that and then he just up and vanished from her life when she told him that she took the job for her show. 

Her coping methods weren't exactly productive and maybe she had gone overboard on the break-up songs, creating an entire playlist of some the most prolific end of relationship songs. She has cried, drank her fair share of alcohol, and binged an unhealthy amount of _Grey's Anatomy._ She forgot how much the show absolutely wrecked her and her caught up all of her feels. After the first 10 seasons though, she was reminded of how the show turned to rubbish with more deaths and character assassinations. She had to put a stop to her endless marathon after season 12 to retain the rest of her sanity. Then she did some 'spring cleaning' in her house, throwing out anything she rarely used. It was cathartic. 

Still, the loneliness she experienced each night when she crawled into her bed wasn't one she expected. It hadn't bothered in the past having no one to curl up next to until Jamie entered her life. Then she saw with perfect clarity how he was made to fit into her life and how he filled in the missing pieces. For so long, the idea of a partner, one who would share the load seemed more like fantasy than reality. She had just about given up on pursuing romance when she received that infamous text. 

_The Emerald Chronicles_ was some pilot she filmed last summer and it never occurred to her it would get picked up and then it did. She rarely has the chance to delve into fantasy with the roles offered to her leaning heavily towards dramas or the occasional action flick, which is how she garnered a reputation for playing badass females. She has at least tried to variate the roles she accepts or auditions for to avoid being typecast. It is one of the reasons she left theatre. She does have hopes of going back one day, which is a real possibility now that she is living in New York on a full time basis and could take over a role during the summer. The opportunities are endless and if some jackass has a problem with it, then she doesn't give any fucks. She has waited for him to say anything for 3 weeks and nothing. Clara has accepted that perhaps her feelings were one side, and if that isn't mortifying, she doesn't know what is?

"Calm yourself, you're going to do great. You've done these before and you were at the special screening Wednesday night. You've got nothing to worry about." They also did a Q&A on her live to boost fan interest.

"Thanks Kristin," she exhales, squeezing her publicist's hand. She doesn't know what she would do without the amazing women she calls her best friends. 

She is given the two minute mark and hugs Kristin for luck. All too soon her name is called and she is walking out, waving and smile as she goes. The thunderous cheering from fans gives her the boost in enegery she has been lacking since her arrival Wednesday afternoon. Thursday was her day to walk the floor in cosplay as Mystique. It was different when she was blue in regards to donning a red wig. She almost sent the pictures to Jamie before she remembered they were no longer on speaking terms. 

Before she has an opportunity to further dwell on the status of her love life, she takes her seat in front of a crowd of hundreds with the perfect show smile. It almost reaches her eyes because she truly adores her fans and their support. It means everything to her, and she is cognizant that without them, she wouldn't be where she is today. She waits for the remaining cast, the director, and the writers to join her onstage. She played a video game character in an extremely popular dystopian game and it was some of the most fun she had. The movie wrapped production spring of the previous year and has been in post for a while as they edited and added in all of the CGI. She loved her time on the film, especially with all of the stunts. She did a lot of training in preparation and worked with a stunt coordinator. Some of the more complex fighting scenes, she had a double take her place, but they did require her for all of the up close fighting shots. 

She loved the cast and crew. It was a great experience. 

"So to start, what was it like on set? Are there any funny stories?"

Clara finds her mood lifting with each minute as she gets into the zone with each question. She talks about her experiences on set and how she enjoyed getting into character. It was tough at first to dig in and explore the character, but after beating all of the games, she had a fairly good idea. She wanted to fully embody the badassness of Sara. The crowd helps with the overall atmosphere. 

The first half hour flies by and it is soon time for questions from the fans. 

"Hi my question is for Clara Beth, what attracted you to this role?"

She grins at the young teen, thrilled to answer. "Well at first I had never heard of the series, so I had to do a little research and read the script. I love how fucking badass she was. I had just done a role where I was the complete opposite of Sara. I love video games and decided to play the first one before my audition to get a sense of the character. More than her ability to wield weapons and fight in combat, I admired her quick wit and her intelligence."

Audience questions were her favorite and she ended up answering several more from zealous fans. Thirty minutes passes by in a flash, and they're taking their leave. She waves at the crowd as she follows her costars. And then she's exhaling as the weight lifts off her shoulders. While enjoying panels, it is a lot of pressure. She doesn't want to disappoint. "That was awesome CB."

"Thanks Kris," she hugs her. "Ready to walk the floor?" Kristin weaves her arms through Clara's as they head out of the ballroom. She loves spending time at the different booths and talking to other fans like herself. A few fans approach her and she freely signs some autographs. They sit on a panel of one of her favorite comic shows. She is a geek above anything else. Kristin shakes her head at her exuberance, laughing softly as she watches Clara perk up. Seeing the light return to her eyes after weeks of dimness makes her smile. Clara makes a few purchases, unable to resist the lure of buying merch. 

"You're a dork. I swear after like nine cons, you think you would out."

Clara scoffs immediately, rolling her eyes. "They aren't all the same. Each one has something different and the experience is always different from the last."

"Oh yes like four years ago when you were here for _The X-Files_ panel." 

Her cheeks are pink. "It is superior television well aside from those last two seasons and that second movie, but hey Gillian and David made it work."

Kristin giggles. Very few people are aware of how geeky Clara Beth really is. She is as much of a fan girl as everyone attending the con. "God, you make it hard to admit to being your friend."

Clara punches her shoulder, nudging her at the insult. "I'm awesome and there's nothing wrong with being a member of multiple fandoms."

"I should offer people a like to your fan fiction."

"You wouldn't?" She glares at her, eyes narrowing. 

Kristin smiles innocently. "Wouldn't I?"

Clara pouts as they work their way towards the exit. Their ride is almost there and she is knackered, ready to collapse on top of her bed. Tomorrow is going to be the longest day and she just wants to order some room service before crawling into her bed. "Where is Kara? We will leave her arse stranded here."

* * *

Jamie swivels his head in every direction as he walks the convention floor. He was here on Wednesday, but spent the day around San Diego on Thursday, while Clara worked. He had seen the uploaded panel on _Youtube_. His breath caught in his throat when he saw her. Her waves were straight and pulled back in a slick ponytail with a few tendrils to frame her face. She wore a red crop top with a white skirt, and it was strange to see her dressed in something that wasn't jeans or leggings or nothing at all. 

His phone notified him every time she was mentioned on social media. He had seen dozens of pictures of her on insta and _Twitter._ It was hitting him that he really wanted her. He didn't care if he she was a huge actress, he accepted her for who she was. 

He had done his thinking and he knew that he wasn't willing to walk away without fighting for her.

He stares at his reflection and snorts because of course she would choose this, perhaps as revenge for informing her of his preference of _Star Wars_ trilogy. He does have to give her credit because she does seem to go all out for cosplay. Today is the day he is going to make his big move. Kara hasn't been texting him all afternoon, giving him precise instructions for when to show up. 

_On my way_ , he texts her. 

_Good, she's going into her last panel now. After that_ _, she has no more work obligations._

_Okay!_

_You do have a plan?_

_Yes_

_And you're not going to share it?_

_No, you can be surprised like everyone else. Just know that I'm going to be bold._

_Well, if you're wearing the costume, it's going to be interesting._

_Yeah, I expect I'll end up on social media._

_Oh god! I'm going to claim plausible deniability. Good luck._

_Thanks and thank you for everything. Clara is worth it._

He attaches his helmet and heads out of his room, ready to get his woman. He hopes his plan works, otherwise he'll be offering himself up for the ultimate humiliation and rejection. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD!!!! I DID IT! I didn't think I would ever get this chapter written but it has happened.

Kara spots his imposing figure immediately upon exiting the ballroom. She loves attending cons with her boss/friend, but the weekend has been exhausting. She has had to coordinate with the team and keep up with Jamie in order to prevent he and Clara from interacting before it is time.

After spending an inordinate amount of time with Clara, she knows things about the women, things most people won’t ever have the chance to learn about her. She thinks it is only right the woman can maintain some semblance of privacy after experiencing and observing the many lengths fans and the paps will go to in order to breach the inner layers of Clara’s life. Sometimes she feels guilt coil tightly in her belly when she recalls her days of being a Stan, not considering the celebrity on the other end as a person deserving of the privacy she has.

As Clara’s assistant, she has a different take on the situation, realizing public perception is one facet of celebrities, the one they want fans and the public to see.

Clara is more than her image. She is a person, often extremely misguided, hot headed, and inherently flawed like the rest of humanity. It is that compassion and deep understanding she was missing before meeting CB for the first time. Clara locks away the parts of herself and often feels as if she deserves to spend her life alone. In her scrambled mind, somehow it makes some semblance of sense that she is simply too much to handle and she should not rock the boat. She has more than most and shouldn’t ask for more than that so as not to be considered selfish.

Kara’s brows always come together when the ’s’ word comes out. She can’t fathom in what universe Clara Beth would be selfish with her various donations to charities, her volunteer and humanitarian work, and how quick she is to ignore her own needs in favor of helping someone else. She was disabused fairly quickly of the glamorous lives of celebrities upon becoming Clara’s personal assistant. She wouldn’t change any of it though, especially when she has the opportunity to witness moments like this.

Jamie is donned in full Darth Vader regalia. She bites her lip to hide her smile. If she had known him before he started discussing _Star Wars_ with C-Biscuit, she would’ve warned him to avoid talking shit about the original trilogy. Clara picked his costume for the express purpose of seeing him wear something from the original series when he would’ve preferred to be a jedi over a sith, Anakin over Darth Vader.

The assistant glances back at her friend, finding her engaged in a conversation with one of her costars. Her attention is otherwise occupied and she hasn’t noticed the Sith in the room. Kara gives him the thumbs up, slipping into the crowd to find the rest of her friends.

It doesn’t take long. They are all crowded around one of the booths with a perfect view of what will undoubtedly be either a really romantic reunion with hopes for the future or the biggest mistake, potentially resulting in all of them losing their jobs. She crosses her fingers for the former as she loves her job and would hate to lose a friend.

Clara hugs her cast mate, smiling and nodding her head as they part. They all see the moment she registers the fidgeting Darth Vader. They are at a slight distance, blurring her features, but Kara can picture all of the emotions flitting across her face, the knitting of her delicate brows, and the crinkling of her forehead. She doesn’t know it is Jamie yet, more than likely caught off guard by someone dressed as the villain when Jamie was supposed to wear one.

She imagines the faint uptick of her lips as she smiles politely before trying to navigate around the behemoth of a man. However, instead of allowing her to bypass him, he halts her, and that is when things get interesting.

First of all, despite being a PA to someone in show business who is prone to theatrics, she can’t say what she was expecting when Jamie informed her he had plan. She thought he would go for a traditional apology and Jamie would abscond with Clara for a while as she wasn’t due on set for two more weeks.

Secondly, she should’ve known any man who could capture CB’s interests as quickly as Jamie did would be extra as hell. She has no idea why her mouth falls open in surprise when music starts playing and then there’s singing. From this distance, she can at least see how wide Clara’s eyes are as she gapes at the man before her.

And then the singing starts.

_When I had you, I treated you bad_

_And wrong my dear_

_And girl since_

_Since you been away_

_Dont’cha know I_

_Sit around_

_With my head hangin’ down_

_And I wonder_

_Who’s lovin’ you_

A hush falls over the comic con floor, and she sees attendees pull out their phones, recording and taking pictures, ready to document all of this for the Internet. Within the next hour, this was going to be all over Twitter, Instagram, and every other media platform. It isn’t as if Clara talks about her love life, so this was going to get some coverage. 

She has to say she is impressed by his vocals and his confidence. She isn’t afraid to admit she could never do something this bold. This is going to go viral. She can tell by the happy gleams and the smiles on bystanders’ faces.

Her attention is focused on Clara who stands there frozen. She is still. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything is wrong. Sometimes she needs a moment to process and for time to catch up to her. She has put a lot of time in clearing Jamie from her heart and mind, intent on erasing all traces of the man. Kara knew it was futile, but she couldn’t stop her.

_I, I, I, I_

_Should have never ever_

_Ever made you cry_

_And girl since_

_Since you been gone_

_Dont’cha know I_

_Sit around_

_With my head hangin’ down_

_And I wonder_

_Who’s lovin’ you_

Her life is surreal. She thought Clara dedicating some songs to Jamie during her drunk karaoke session was bizarre to say the least. She hadn’t done it for any other significant other she had and she had known those men, gone on official dates with them, and dated them for a whole lot longer than Jamie. Yet, there was something about the ginger man that kept Clara’s interest piqued. Maybe it was he didn’t treat her differently or try to use her to prop himself. He was fine with anonymity, unwilling to encroach on her space and force himself into her life.

She wasn’t lying when she told her friends she liked Jamie. He cares about their friend and is willing to face perpetual public humiliation to win her back.

_Life without love_

_Is oh, so lonely_

_I don’t think_

_I don’t think_

_I’m gonna make it_

_All my life_

_All my life, yeah_

_Belongs to you only_

Kara watches as Clara’s hand drifts upwards to cover her mouth at his proclamation. The assistant has no doubt he means every word. He is putting himself on the line in a plea for her to understand he made a mistake, but he doesn’t want it to be the end of them. She hears the emotion enveloping his voice as he pours everything he has into this song.

Knowing Clara as she does, at this moment, she is weighing the pros and cons of fight or flight, of avoiding another round with Jamie or staying to hear him out. She believes her fighting instincts are in control as she hasn’t fled the premises yet, and Clara has always loved grand gestures. She pretends she isn’t a romantic and doesn’t have a vast collection of rom-coms. She is also a sucker for a man in touch with his feelings, and Jamie singing to her with his heart, is something she can’t resist.

_Come on and take it girl_

_Come on and take it_

_Because_

_All_

_All I can do_

_All I can do_

_Since you been gone is cry_

Talking with Jenny, Jamie’s sister, she is aware he has in fact shed a few tears over Clara. He is as hopeless without her as she is without him. If it were anyone else, she would find herself envious of the practically instantaneous connection and movie worthy love they discovered, but if anyone deserves this kind of happiness, it is her best friend. She has watched her lose pieces of herself over the last two years as she gave and gave herself to everyone, and she thinks it is time Clara finally focuses on her own happiness. If that is with Jamie, she is going to ship the hell out of them.

_And you, oooh_

_Will never wonder_

_And worry your pretty little head_

_About what I do_

The first two weeks were the hardest as she struggled to push Clara to do anything productive. Then as if a light had been turned on, she avoided anything related to Jamie. She refused to mention his name, cut off Kara if she attempted to bring him up, swiftly navigating back to a safe topic of conversation. She kept herself occupied so as not to think of him and had Kara seriously worried about her mental state.

_Dont’cha know I_

_Sit around_

_With my head hangin’ down_

_And I wonder_

_Who’s lovin’ you_

A huge cheer erupts from the crowd as people whistle, hoot, and applaud Jamie as Clara stands there red face and gaping. Kara and her friends drift closer to eavesdrop, unable to abate her boundless curiosity. Kara catches Kris paying attention to the rapid movement of fingers on screens, and figures the other woman will be spending several hours tonight sorting out what has happened.

When she thought of Jamie popping up at SDCC to surprise Clara and get her back, the last thing she thought was him going viral with a huge display. She is thoroughly impressed and prays Clara is too. The crowd disperses as Jamie removes his helmet, revealing his curly ginger hair. He shakes it out, raking his fingers through the sweaty locks.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Clara keeps her distance. “Wh-where did you get the costume? I-I don’t- I’m confused.” Kara can’t blame her. It isn’t as if they kept her in the loop of their scheming. For all she has done for them, they wanted to do something for her.

“Come on guys,” she nudges Ally and Kris, nods at Sophia. “Let’s give them some privacy. She’ll give us all the deets later.”

* * *

Clara takes a deep breath, feeling her heart rate spike as Jamie removes his helmet. She was resigned to never seeing him again and was coming around to the permanence of their break-up.

Here he is though. She can’t stop staring at him. Her eyes track his every moment, unable to believe he isn’t some figment of her imagination. She is overtired and it is just as likely she is hallucinating, except she heard the mindless chatter and saw the flashes from cameras.

Jamie has come at last and he sang for her. He told her he couldn’t sing. “I thought you couldn’t sing.”

“I said I didn’t sing,” he smirks. “I never said anything about my capabilities. I used to do some local theatre as a kid.”

“You lying arsehole. What was all that about theatre kids?”

“I enjoyed taking the piss.”

“Color me unsurprised.”

She doesn’t know what to do as awkwardness seeps into their interaction. She has gone over three weeks without talking to him and did her best to purge him from her mind. She failed miserably as he had infected her heart and unknowingly transferred custody of her heart.

She spent the first week absolutely miserable, refused to leave her apartment, or her bed. She wanted to hide and ignored her phone until she reached over and turned it off. Her phone had done enough and she sought the quiet.

The only noises heard within the confines of her apartment were the ones loud enough to penetrate her walls from the street. There were the occasional sirens or the sounds of cars driving along the street. She lives too far up for street chatter.

She blocked all of it. She closed her curtains, blacking out her bedroom, crawled under her duvet and laid there. She didn’t sleep for the first day or two, her mind unable to stop whirring.

Clara couldn’t figure out what she had done wrong.

She filmed pilots all of the time and they were usually throw aways. She hadn’t expected anything to come of the one she did the previous fall. There was radio silence from the studio, she figured that was it.

The actress gave up. She neglected to take care of her personal hygiene, not particularly caring if her hair lost its’ shine and hung limply. It was greasy and dull, and she ignored all of it.

She thought she had known heartbreak in the past, but all of those relationships were meaningless when she compared it to the month she had known Jamie. By most people’s standards, it was all very quick and she shouldn’t feel as she did. She knew her heart and she knew he wouldn’t ever really be gone.

The second week, she managed to crawl out of bed. She hadn’t washed the grime off her body, having grown comfortable with its’ coexistence. She threw her lank her up into a messy bun and called it a day. She didn’t bother to change out of her sweats and ratty t-shirt. Instead she ordered copious amounts of takeout and listened to _Fleetwood Mac_ on repeat. Day 9 brought Kara round to her apartment and while she didn’t force her to do anything, she did throw out some encouraging hints, in the hope of coaxing her out of her post break-up funk.

The shower came on day 12. Kara was unexpectedly stronger than she appeared and had grown tired of her pining and moping. She threw Clara over her shoulder, which the actress is still pondering the logistics of the act, then tossed her into her shower fully clothed. The act of bathing herself was oddly therapeutic. Getting out of New York and heading for her bungalow on the beach in California helped. There weren’t any memories of Jamie to haunt her. She didn’t have to think about her upcoming obligations or anything.

For a while, she just existed.

It was cathartic driving down the interstate to San Diego. She drove herself, much to the worry of her friends. She needed the time to gather her wits and put herself together as best she could. She wasn’t exactly broken and while she missed Jamie, she accepted her life was too complicated for him with the flourishing of his own career. He had his own obligations which didn’t align with hers. She couldn’t expect him to settle down when they hadn’t been together very long. While she was ready for what was next, he wasn’t there. His whole career was him traveling from one destination to the next, and she wouldn’t take that from him.

Distraction from her life came in the form of the whole SDCC weekend from the panels to the autograph signings to catching up with friends she hadn’t seen in a while. Even all of her many interviews were pleasant and enjoyable.

For the first time in weeks, she didn’t immediately think of Jamie, which is progress.

Progress that has been officially demolished with the appearance of a six foot something singing Darth Vader. She wondered why her package hadn’t shown up, meaning to ask her assistant about it.

When he starts singing the first verse, she has to stop herself from running far away from him. The first time she talked to him on the phone all those weeks ago, she thought how lovely his talking voice was and silently mused about his singing voice. She doesn’t have to wonder anymore as he stands there, bearing his soul for her.

Clara, personally didn’t think she was worth all of the effort, the possible humiliation that could arise with all of these people filming his serenade. What did someone as amazing as Jamie see in her? She understood his hesitance to fully entangle himself with the likes of her. Getting involved with her meant his life in relative obscurity was over.

He sang with purpose, inflecting his notes with his emotions, and she felt every single one of the. There was the loneliness he experienced much like her, coupled with his regret. His regret was the strongest and her she felt cracks in her armor. She tried to harden her heart, ready to give up on finding love. The pain was too much. In the end, there was his love. He was laying it all out there and asking her for the chance to start anew.

“I saw your panel.” Brown eyes snap to meet clear blue ones that are open and earnest. “You were quite eloquent.”

“Oh.” She wants to say something, anything, but her words fail her.

“I made a mistake Clara. I was an ass when I ended our relationship. You are worth rearranging my life. I can be a photographer anywhere, but I can’t have you anywhere.” She shudders at the veracity of his sentiment. He takes a step closer to her. “I’ve done some thinking and I want to really try. You’re incredible and it would be stupid of me to never try. I haven’t met anyone who has caught my eye like you, and I don’t think I will again.”

She swallows thickly as the blood rushes through her ears. He reaches out tentatively, his gloved hand lifting up to stroke her cheek. She leans eagerly into his touch, a sob bursting from her chest. Her eyes slip shut as she prolongs the moment, a few heartbeats pass, and she realizes nothing has changed between them. If she wants him, he is hers for the taking.

“I missed you,” she whispers, her voice cracking with barely controlled emotion.

Jamie cups her face with both hands, searching her eyes for any hesitance before dipping his head to brush her lips with his. She pours everything she has into the kiss and feels him breathing life back into her. All of her restraint and the whispers in her head are gone. If they are there, she has pushed them back, ignoring whatever her brain is telling her in favor of following her heart for the first time. Kissing Jamie brings back the memory of them tangled in her sheets, his labored breathing against her chest, his fierce determination to coax more from her body when she could barely move, and the overwhelming feeling of home she felt in his arms.

She wraps her arms around his neck, thankful she doesn’t have to push up on her toes for once. He nips and tugs at her lips, and she sinks further into his embrace. The passion and fire she thought had disappeared are back again, and the heat licks up her spine as he pulls her closer.

“I love you,” she says against his lips. “I would be stupid too if I didn’t try.” She is done wasting time being stupid. "Let's get out of here." She has a hotel room and check out isn't until tomorrow morning. They've got time to make-up for. She is going to try too, starting with complete transparency regarding any future projects she takes on in the future. She wants this relationship to work. 

With their hands twined together, they take their leave. She ignores the chatter and the constant clicking, all too aware her name will pop up several times in the next few hours. 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there is one chapter left, followed by a short epilogue. Don't worry, you'll get your sex before we say goodbye to these two dorks. 
> 
> If you noticed, the last pic is a month after the others.
> 
> check me out on [ _tumblr_ ](https://jmoonrise.tumblr.com) I love talking to you guys. My dms are always open or feel free to ask anything.
> 
> The song is Who’s Lovin’ You- Jackson 5


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this a day earlier before my 25th birthday tomorrow. It's short and very final, and I'm sorry.

She pants hungrily into his mouth, losing herself in him. He kisses her hungrily without any rhythm, pressing his body tightly to hers, fitting himself right where she needs him. She tosses her head back, moaning as his lips trail down her neck, sucking and nipping at every sliver of skin he can reach. “So good at this,” she cries as he bites down at the juncture of her neck. “Fuck, don’t stop,” she begs as he laves the inflamed patch of skin with his hot tongue.

He grips her thigh, wrapping it around his waist as he pushes her into the wall, both of them groaning at the increased contact between their bodies. She can feel all of him and still he isn’t close enough, not after what happened just an hour ago with his massive declaration in front of hundreds of people. He could’ve moved on from, electing to go a different route, expressing himself quite eloquently with an audience that was certain to post the details and videos of his exploits. How could she turn away someone who was willing to put everything on the lone so openly for a second chance with her? The answer was- she couldn’t.

His fingers drift dangerously low, leave a sizzling trail of heat in their wake as he slides them up her dress, pushing aside her panties, teasing her where she is most wanton. She doesn’t need to see the lascivious grin he wears to know she is soaked, absolutely dripping for the man. If it weren’t for him holding her up, she’d be a puddle of desire on the floor. “So responsive,” he dips a finger inside, resting her reactions.

“God Jamie, please touch me,” she isn’t above pleading if it’ll get him to move quicker. Jamie doesn’t seem to be in a listening mood. He ignores her, swirling his thumb around her clit in little circles at an agonizing pace. She wants him to claim her, mark her body, understand that she’s willingly giving herself to him, whereas he’s content to draw this out, to prolong the want and suffering.

He tsks at her when she tries to push his hand deeper into her. He wags his finger at her with a roguish smile and mischievous glint in his eyes. His pupils are dilated, nearly eliminating all of the blue except at the edges. “You’re awfully impatient,” his fingers are light as they tease the sensitive skin of her thigh.

“It’s been so long,” she groans as he drags his hand down her leg. She can hardly focus on the words coming out of his mouth— attention occupied by his skin touching hers.

His lips quirk up as he presses his lips to her collarbone, planting tiny kisses on every inch of available skin. She tilts her head back when he hits the spot behind her ear that makes her squirm and lose her composure entirely. Desire pools hot and heady in her lower belly as his fingers trail upward, brushing against where she is wet and aching for him. “Don’t tease,” she begs, sounding throatier than intended. She tugs on his hair, urging him to pull back before pulling his lips to collide with hers.

Kissing him is something she has missed and she won’t be taking any of it for granted. The kiss is firm and full of intent— conveying more than words could express—as her arousal continues to build when he slots himself between her thighs. She can feel how much he wants her and she is drunk off the anticipation that’s been building from the moment their eyes connected.

She knows where all of this will lead them, has craved it from the second they exited the convention center, delights when his fingers slide inside of her, thumb circling in quick movements, and she finds herself falling off the edge. “I love you,” she cries out as her walls flutter around his fingers.

From the start, she knew she wouldn’t last long under his direct attentions. With her fingers threaded in his curls, she continues to kiss him, enjoying the feeling of his thick, calloused fingers inside of her— helping her to ride out her high—and all she can think is there is no better place in this world than within the confines of Jamie’s arms.

They strip away their clothes—bodies finally devoid of all barriers—the blue of his eyes is otherworldly as he stares down at her, eyes soaking in every detail of her. She looks back at him, taking in every inch, fingers caressing over his the muscles in his arms. She hadn’t thought herself capable of this depth of emotion and attachment, yet somehow he managed to crawl past her defenses, carving out a home for himself. “I love you,” she murmurs with bright eyes.

Her heartbeat quickens as his eyes soften, edging out the lust to reflect his love. He hums as his thumbs stroke her cheeks, she leans into his touch, it hits her how much she missed him. They spent such a short time together, but he had left a mark. She pushes him away, flipping their positions until she is straddling him, her thighs bracketing his legs.

“Now this is a view I could get behind,” he smirks up at her.

A light blush dusts her cheeks at his brazen words. She flicks his nose. “You’re awful,” she laughs, leaning down to brush his lips with her.

“But ye love me.”

“I do,” she swears.

“And I love you.”

Every moment after blends together into the most beautiful story she’s ever had the privilege to be a part of, scene after scene are full of moments that unravel her, reveal her deepest fears, and he is there still to support and love her when it gets to be too much. There are _loud_ disagreements and at times they go weeks on end without seeing each other, but they never stop fighting— discovering victory is hard won and better together.

Except when it comes to the _Star Wars_ saga. Clara refuses to concede victory on which is superior, and Jamie just shuts her up with a kiss, loving her all the same even if she can’t acknowledge how amazing the prequels are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been trying for the better part of a month to write this and Never Meant, but the words haven't come. The stories don't speak to me and perhaps that's come from my disinterest in the show after s5. I don't know. I did really try to give this a satisfying conclusion. It's not exactly what I promised and I'm sorry.


End file.
